


Search Everywhere (For A Happy Ending)

by jennifer (pandorablu)



Category: American Idol RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-31
Updated: 2010-05-31
Packaged: 2017-10-09 20:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/91208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandorablu/pseuds/jennifer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David thought his biggest worry was figuring out if he was going to be the first member of his family to go to college.  Little did he know that when David Cook and Michael Johns crashed through the door of his father's store his life would change forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Search Everywhere (For A Happy Ending)

**Author's Note:**

> A couple things:
> 
> 1\. It's long. Longer than I though it'd be. At 24000+ words I didn't think this would ever end.
> 
> 2\. I've kept the 'Graphic Depictions of Violence' tag checked even though I was on the fence about it. There's not ALOT of overly explicit violence, but this is a 1920's gangster!AI verse so it's not something I could avoid. The most graphic scene involves Elliot Yamin and some broken fingers, but otherwise it's mostly death by gunshots.
> 
> 3\. I have to thank krisstories and saxihighlandchk over on lj for being general cheerleaders, even though AI isn't really their fandoms of choice :D
> 
> 4\. Yeah if anyone in the AI verse were gangsters in the 1920's I'd be making a shit load of money right now and not writing this... so I think I'm safe (How's that for a disclaimer?)

The gun was heavy in David's hand, his fingers clumsily gripping the handle.

"Go ahead Arch." Cook was smiling, the bastard, as he held his hands out, giving David the clear shot. The gun started to shake in his hands. "Shoot me if you think it'll bring your family back. I'm the one who brought you into this life, brought this down on you. I wasn't the one to pull the trigger, but it might as well have been me. So go ahead… SHOOT ME!" Cook screamed, stepping closer to David, getting rid of the distance between the two of them and letting the muzzle of the gun rest on his suit clad chest.

David blinked the tears out of his eyes, staring straight into Cook's eyes instead of the carnage around him. His sisters, their throats slit and gaping open wide like crude second smiles; his brother, brown eyes bright with life no more, instead gorged out and staring sightless towards the heavens; his parents shot in the back, laying in cooling pools of their own blood. "I… I can't… I…"

"Let me help you." Cook whispered, his too warm hands encircling David's shaking ones and steadying the gun in his hands. "It's okay Archie, I understand."

"Cook-"

"I've got this Mike. Why don't you go get Luke, I think we'll need more hands on deck. Get Carly too." It wasn't a request. David heard more than saw Mike holster his gun and walk out of the room, closing the door behind him. "There you go Arch, nobody around to see you do it. If you're going to do it now would be the best time, don't you think?" The corners of Cook's mouth were upturned slightly.

There was a long silence between the two men, the gun still held aloft by their intertwined hands. Tears continued to leak out of the corners of David's eyes, "I don't know what to do. I…"

"It's okay babe." Moisture started gathering in Cook's own eyes. "That's what I'm here for." David let the gun go slack. Cook took the gun and put it back into his holster, seconds before David collapsed against him. Cook put his arm around David and kissed the top of his head. "Young and Daughtry will pay for what they've done. I swear it." Cook muttered into David's hair.

At that particular moment, the only thought David had was that he hoped Cook let him watch.

****

Three Months Earlier…

David hated minding the store. Well, he didn't hate it, it just wasn't any fun; he pouted to himself as he sucked on one of the rock candies they sold at his family's store.

But his mama was doing lessons with Jazzy and Amber, and papa needed two people to help him with the biyearly stock that came in from the docks. Since David had the better head for numbers and was nicer than Claudia and Daniel with the customers, he was stuck while the other two were able to help load the cart.   
David twirled the rock candy stick in his mouth, trying to get the last bits of sugar off the stick before he had to toss it. I had been slow all day. In fact the only customer David had all day was Mr. McCoy coming in for his weekly purchase of sugar and butter for his bakery around the block.

It didn't take long before David was bored again, sacrificing one of his quarters from delivering Ms. Mallory's groceries earlier in the week so he could suck on another rock candy while he waited. He also started tapping out the arpeggios Ms. Brooke had taught him last week, trying see if he could still remember them.

He was on his tenth arpeggio when the door to the store crashed open. David watched, his mouth agape, as two men in suits ran to the front and literally jumped over the counter, ducking behind it. David looked down and saw both of them put their fingers over their lips, indicating David's need to be quiet. David saw the mirth in the eyes of the shorter of the two men at the same time he saw the guns in their holsters underneath their jackets. His eyes widened, still a little slack jawed, when he heard the front door to the shop open again.

Another man walked in, his dark eyes quickly surveying the shop. "Can I help you sir?" David asked, hoping his nerves over the two men hiding behind the counter wouldn't come through.

The man straightened out his suit jacket, where David could see another gun in a holster, and pulled at the tie in his hair. "I was just looking for my two friends. I thought I saw them run in here… but I guess they didn't…" The man trailed off, walking through the isles towards the counter.

"I saw two guys run past the window? They were headed towards McKinney's I think?" David asked, nodding his head at the large plate glass window that had a view right out to the street.

"McKinney's?" The man raised his eyebrow.

"Maybe?" David raised the glass jar that held the rock candy. "Want a rock candy mister?" He cracked off one of the last pieces on his latest stick.

The man backed up, going back towards the shop's front door. "I need to… find my friends." He said awkwardly before he rushed out the door. The bell on the door let out a weak jingle as he stepped out and walked swiftly in the direction David had indicated.

The two men stood up.

"I can't believe that actually worked." The taller of the two men exclaimed. David heard some kind of accent, but he couldn't place it.

"Who wouldn't trust a face like that?" The shorter of the two men had a smirk on his face as he fished out the last of the blue rock candy sticks from the glass bowl. David tried, and failed, to hide his pout. The blue ones were his favorite after all. The shorter man's grin grew a little bit when he saw it. "How much?"

"Quarter." David paused as the man gave him the silver coin. "He was… that guy was going to shoot you wasn't he? You guys are all in the mob aren't you?"

The shorter man ruffled David's hair. "And he's smart too." He said as the two walked around back to the other side of the counter. "We'll see ya around kid." The shorter man, who David guessed was probably the leader of the two, gave David a short wave before reaching the front of the store where the taller man with the weird accent already had the door to the store open and had briefly looked up and down the street. "What's your name anyway?" He asked before popping the candy in his mouth.

"David. David Archuleta."

The man's laugh puzzled David since he had no idea why his name could be so funny. "Well David, if you or your parents ever feel like making your way down to the Idol, just let them know the drinks are on me."

"What's your name?" David asked.

The smirk was back on the man's face. "Cook." He said simply, as the pair walked out the door and were quickly out of sight, walking swiftly in the exact opposite direction David had indicated earlier.

David's jaw hung open as the door swished closed, unable to move.

After all, it wasn't every day that the head of the local crime family and his first lieutenant hid behind your dad's front counter.

*****

It wasn't that David didn't know who David Cook was before he ran into his family's store. If you lived in Hell's Kitchen you knew about David Cook and his Musketeers; the lieutenants and their girls who'd been protecting the neighborhood ever since Cook's stepfather had taken over five years ago and left his stepson in charge. Everyone thought the neighborhood would get worse, leaving it in the hands of a guy no older than 23. But Cook had gained the respect of everyone in the neighborhood with a hard but seemingly fair hand. The streets had become a little bit less of a place you had to fear and more of a place where you could enjoy the neighborhood, talk to your neighbors and ave fun on the stoops again.

The speakeasy Cook owned, the Idol, quickly became the hub of everything that happened in the neighborhood. Anything you needed, someone at the Idol could probably get it for you, from easy things like the best whiskey in the city to the retribution for the deaths on the streets that had nothing to do with anything related to Cook and his seemingly endless war with the Guarini family.

The Idol also offered the best entertainment in downtown Manhattan, some of Cook's own lieutenants being the most requested singers and piano players. There was a rumor that Cook himself was better than anyone who took the stage at the Idol, but the only people who could have ever heard him sing weren't going to talk.

It was what made them so good.

Cook's feud with the Guarini family was a constant source of gossip neighborhood. Who started it, why it started… everything was rumor and no one who knew the truth would talk about it.   
When Cook had risen to power he was dating a girl named Carrie. Everyone thought they were going to get married and hold one of the most lavish celebrations Hell's Kitchen had seen in years.   
At the same time, the Guarini family was trying to take over Hell's Kitchen, hoping to take over the area before Cook had a chance to fully establish himself.

Tensions were getting high, and while the threats and sabotage had become common place, but there had been little violence on both sides. Everyone in the Kitchen knew that a day without some kind of violence was a rarity.

Everything changed one morning.

Carrie's body was found inside of the abandoned building that became the Idol, stabbed in the chest with a long serrated knife, the favored weapon of Guarini's oldest son Justin. Ever since, the bad blood between the two families was never ending, with very few days going by where someone didn't turn up dead; either from being caught in the crossfire, or members of either family catching a bullet.

*****

"Were you alright taking care of the store this afternoon David?" His mama asked him that night as David helped her prepare dinner. His brother and sisters made fun of him constantly for it, but David found a strange kind of peace helping his mom prepare dinner on the days when he could.

Jazzy was setting the table, Amber was still in the sitting room finishing her lessons, Daniel had been allowed to spend the night with his friend Sam after coming back from the docks and helping unload, and Claudia was helping papa with the last parts of the inventory.

"Mmhm." David made an agreeable noise as he chopped up the herbs for the pasta sauce, his mind still distracted by the run-in from earlier.

"So Mrs. Clearey really came into the middle of the store and danced an Irish jig before taking all the potatoes and running out the door huh?" Lupe was no slouch when it came to realizing when her son had his head in the clouds.

David stopped chopping up the oregano. "That obvious huh?"

"Only to a mother who knows." Lupe smiled softly. "So what happened hijo? Was it that Allison girl? I know you fancy her. She's not that bad, maybe you want to bring her over to the house some time."

The tips of David's ears turned pink. He liked Allison sure, but… "It isn't that mama."

"So?"

"Promise you won't tell papa?"

Lupe turned to look at her son. David towed the line more than any of her other children, so if he didn't want her to tell Jeff something, it had to be something serious to him. "Of course not. What is it?"

"Two men came into the store today… well more like raced in? And um, they hid behind the counter and then this other guy came in, and they all had guns and I thought they were going to start shooting up the store and I didn't know what I was going to do if they did, but then nothing…"

"David, breathe hijo." Lupe gently gripped David's bicep, David looking down and seeing her lightly callused hand from working all day in the house and the kitchen, and the flour that always seemed to be under her nails from baking all day.

"Mama, what do you think about David Cook? Really? I know dad doesn't like him, wishes he didn't exist at all in fact. But…" David bit his lip.

Lupe smiled softly. "I don't like what he does, but I do think he's a good boy. Has to be something good in him to have so many people genuinely like him and respect him the way they do I think. But your father has never liked… those kinds of people. And doesn't see much past that. Which you have to respect. He is the head of this household." Lupe finished sternly.

David nodded his head. "I know that mama."

"Was David Cook one of the men that came into the store today?" Lupe let up on her son a little bit.

David nodded again, a small smile curling up the corners of his mouth. "He hid behind the counter mama. The most terrifying guy around here and he was hiding. And he had a smile on his face as he was doing it. He took a rock candy and actually paid for it too." For some reason David didn't want to tell his mama about the invitation that Cook gave him to the Idol before he left. It felt private. Something for David alone.

"But no one got hurt right? You didn't get hurt?"

David shook his head. "Almost like it never happened."

"Then let's keep it that way." Lupe said as she patted David on the shoulder. "Pass me the rosemary hijo."

Moment later both of them heard the front door open and the clomp of David's father and sister as their boots came up the stairs into the kitchen.

"That smells wonderful mama." Claudia said, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek as she took off the work boots that were caked with mud from last night's rain and the walk to and from the docks.

"It sure does Lupe." Jeff said as he kissed his wife's other cheek.

Lupe batted at his shoulder. "Go sit down, you've done enough today." David smiled as he ducked his head lower and concentrated on chopping up the last of the thyme, his father's laugh echoing down the hall.

*****

"Earth to Archuleta." Danny Noriega was snapping his fingers in front of his friend, trying to get his attention.

David blinked. "Yeah?"

"Nice to see you're with us now David." Danny said as he sat back down on the wooden bench across from David. "You want to tell me what's up?"

"What's up?" David parroted.

"You're spacey a lot of the time… but never this bad." Danny said as he took a bite of the apple he had been munching on for the last few minutes.

"Oh."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Is that all you have to say? Oh?"

David shrugged. "Got things on my mind."

"When did you become so monotone?"

David shrugged again and Danny sighed. "Sooner or later you have to actually commit to one of them David. Miss Brooke wouldn't have put your name in if she didn't think you had a chance. And you'd be set for life if you got in to Julliard." Everyone had been shocked when Miss Brooke had put David's name in for the prestigious scholarship that gave students a full scholarship to the best music school in America. Especially David's father. Jeff expected David to make something of the family name and go to NYU. David had a head for numbers, and Jeff expected David to go to the college for something serious that could actually benefit the family. Not something "useless" like music.

Right now both colleges were a little more than a dream, but David had to pick one of them, and he was running out of time.

"Oh just leave him be Danny." The redhead bunching up her skirt so she could sit down on the bench next to David never failed to make him smile.

"Hey Alli." David smiled softly. "Thanks."

Allison rested her head on David's shoulder. "No problem."

Danny let out a sigh. "It's your life. But I would figure it out soon."

*****

David took a breath before knocking on the nondescript wooden door. He wasn't supposed to be there, in fact everyone else in the house had gone to bed hours before, but he hadn't been able to get David Cook out of his head. For a whole week, David resisted the temptation to walk to the building that was the home of the Idol, but the allure to go to the speakeasy and visit Cook had just gotten to be too much.

He'd never slipped out of the house late at night before, or done anything against his parents' wishes. There was something forbidden about what he was doing now though, an energy that was thrumming through his veins as he raised his fist and knocked on the door.

A slit in the door slid open. "Yeah? Who is it?" A gruff voice asked.

"David Archuleta?"

The voice on the other end scoffed. "Go home kid. I think you got lost."

David looked straight at the pair of eyes he saw. "Cook said the drinks were on him." He hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt.

That must have been a keyword, because David heard the locks on the other side of the door disengage and the groan as the heavy wooden door opened. The man on the other side of the door was a bear of a man, towering over David with broad shoulders and a body that looked like it could crush David if he put his mind to it. His eyes were kind though, now that David had said the magic words. "Just walk right on through, Mr. Cook said someone might come by saying he owed them a drink."

"Um, okay." David said, giving the man a tight smile before slipping past him and going down a short hallway that lead down to a staircase. The hall was lined with dark tapestries and framed black and whites of the city, and David took a moment to take a look at them. Whoever took the photos was good, and each photo was unique and showed the neighborhood in a way David hadn't seen it before.

David pulled his eyes away from the photos on the wall and walked down the short flight of stairs to a second door. He could hear the music pouring through the door, the blues notes bringing a smile to his face.

David pushed the door open, and stepped into a whole different world.

There was color and activity everywhere. And that wasn't just from the speakeasy itself. The people there were laughing, smiling, moving… David felt like he had already fallen in love with the Idol and he hadn't even been there more than a minute.

There was a small half round stage tucked in the corner where right now a man in a fedora was playing the player piano and singing the latest song by Duke Ellington with an enthusiasm David had never seen before. The bar was on the side farthest away from the door David had entered, where he knew alcohol was getting served even though it wasn't supposed to be, being tended to by a black man that always had a smile on his face for the people walking up to the bar. The tables were all packed, people laughing and enjoying the entertainment and the atmosphere.

"Oh aren't you the cutest thing ever." A voice said, snapping David out of his trance.

"Excuse me?" David turned to the woman, taking in her brunette hair, the flapper dress that she was wearing, the tattoo she had on her arm and the smile on her face as she waited for David to respond.

"Can I help you out sweetie? You look kind of lost." She smiled.

"I just… um Cook said I could come down?"

"Are you… " The woman laughed. "Mike and Dave hid behind your counter didn't they?"

"Yes?" David said, unsure if that was the right answer.

The woman put her arm around his shoulders, smile still on her face. "Come with me honey, we'll get you a coke and you can tell me all about those two goofballs hiding behind the counter like scaredy cats." She said as she led him to one of the booths in the back that was set aside for 'Reserved'. "My name is Carly. It's nice to meet you… David right?"

David nodded his head. "How… how'd you know my name?"

"Cook likes to at least know everybody in the neighborhood, even if he doesn't know them personally." Carly shrugged, waving over one of the waitress girls. "Your dad owns the general goods store on 56th right?" David nodded his head again. Carly ordered a coke for David and a whiskey for herself before turning her attention back to David. "So tell me all about your adventure."

"There isn't really much to tell? I mean, they just kinda came in? And then that other guy was there." David was nervously taping out scales on the edge of the table.

Carly put her manicured hand over David's nervous twitching fingers. "It's alright David. Nothing's going to happen here." She quirked her lips. "You could almost say this is one of the safest places in Hell's Kitchen."

"It's not that." David's eyes flitted over the club. "It's just, I'm not supposed to be here? I've never done this before and…"

"First time, huh?" David nodded and gripped the coke bottle in both hands after the waitress set down their drinks. "You'll be fine. The world doesn't end because your parents don't know where you are all hours of the day." Carly took a sip of her whiskey. "Can you tell me about the other man that walked in?"

"You don't know about him?" David took a sip of his coke.

"Mike and Cook don't always… tell me everything. I've known Cook since he got lost that first time trying to get to the docks. Mike and I have known each other since before I could remember." Carly rolled her eyes. "Idiots."

"Well, the guy had a ponytail? And um, he was kinda tallish. And maybe thin?" David said, a bit of trepidation in his voice.

"That ass." Carly cursed.

"Is he… someone I have to worry about? Someone my family has to worry about?" David asked.

"Don't worry, it'll be handled." Carly said, and David tried to pretend he didn't hear the ominous tone in her voice. Carly turned towards the stage. "Ooo, you're gonna want to hear this."

David turned and saw a woman sitting on a stool, watching as a microphone was set in front of her. David saw her take a deep breath and smile towards the bartender before the lights dimmed, obscuring her in shadow.

A single spotlight turned on to the left of the stage. A man smiled towards the club's patrons as he stepped into the light. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we have a hell of a show planned for you tonight. You're not gonna want to miss it. So take a seat, grab a glass of our famous whiskey, and prepare to be amazed." He gripped the microphone and turned to the side. "First up is someone we know and love. Singing Bessie Smith's classic 'Downhearted Blues', this is Syesha Mercado." He started clapping as his light dimmed and the spotlight moved to the woman David had spotted earlier.

"Gee, it's hard to love someone…. When that someone doesn't love you…" David couldn't help but watch avidly as Syesha began singing, her voice practically soaring over the club as she sang the soulful tune.

"Told you you'd want to hear it." Carly whispered in David's ear.

"She's… she's amazing." David said, amazed as he turned to Carly. "I could never…"

"You sing?" Carly seemed to perk up at that.

"A little? I mean, I'm not that good? But I like playing piano more." David had gone back to tapping out arpeggios on the tabletop as his nerves got the best of him again.

"Is that what you're doing with your fingers? Something with the piano?" Carly smiled softly.

"Yeah, um, I do it when I'm nervous?" David let out a small laugh. "Miss Brooke taught them to me and tapping out the rhythms calms me down."

"Well we'll have to get you up there and playing that piano then." Carly said confidently.

"Oh my gosh, no!" David exclaimed. "I'd be terrible."

"Now that can't be true. You're too cute to be terrible." Carly laughed.

David felt the tips of his ears getting red in embarrassment. "I just…" He took a sip of his coke, hoping the obvious sign of his embarrassment would fade. "Maybe?"

"I'm going to hold you to that." Carly pointed her finger at him.

"Uh oh, Carly's making demands again." David heard over his shoulder. Turning around, he saw the same guy who was with Cook the last time… and Cook standing right next to him. David felt himself go flush with embarrassment again.

"Shut it. We were doing just fine without you poking your big fat nose into it, weren't we Dave?" Carly said, turning to the younger David.

David boggled a little at the sense of familiarity Carly already felt with him. He nodded his head dumbly. "See! So you can just scuttle off." Carly said confidently.

David couldn't believe the pout he saw on both faces. David Cook, the head of the Cook crime family, the meanest guy on the streets if you believed all the rumors, was acting like a five year old in front of him and Carly.

"Ya mind if we sit and enjoy Sy's set with you though?" The other man said. Carly shook her head.

"So who told you we were over here?" She asked as the two slipped into the booth, David and Carly moving over to give them room.

"Kristy Lee saw you two sit down before she went to the back to prep for her set." The other man said as he gave Carly a kiss on the cheek. "Hey… name's David Archuleta right?" He asked, indicating David.

David nodded his head. "Yeah, um… but I don't know yours, so um, hi?"

"Dave, this goof is Michael Johns." Carly said as Michael slung his arm over her bare shoulders. Carly settled into his side. "You know who that other goof is." Carly rolled her eyes.

"I get no respect." Cook sighed.

"You get plenty of respect. You get even more respect for carrying that gun." Carly smirked. "You just won't get any from me until you can get to Hallman's wharf without getting turned around."

"You get lost one time and a dame never lets you forget it." Cook sighed.

David couldn't help but smile. "You got lost trying to find Hallman's? But that's… down the street?"

Cook hid his face in his hands. "And there goes all the mystery surrounding me. Thanks Carls."

"I aim to please." Carly smiled.

"I don't know, you're still kinda mysterious to me." David said softly.

The corners of Cook's lips curled up in a smile. "Thanks."

David tired to ignore the flutter in his chest when he saw Cook turn that smile on him.

A man with short dark hair, wearing a button up shirt and slacks, and not bothering to hide the gun in his holster, approached the table. "We found Maroulis boss."

David didn't think he'd ever see someone's face change so quickly. One moment Cook was smiling and the next his face was so blank David couldn't tell what was going on in his head. "And I wanted to hear Kristy's set."

"I'm sure Kristy will understand." Carly said, lifting up out of her prone position to allow Mike to untangle himself from her side.

"You need me to go with you?" Mike asked, ready to go where Cook asked.

Cook got up out of the booth. "This won't take long. Luke and I can take care of it." He smiled a crooked smile. "Might even make it back in time."

"Don't rush on our account." Carly said spitefully.

"Don't plan on it." Cook said easily. The shiver that went up David's spine at the ease they talked about probably killing someone made him remember where he was and who he was sitting with. Carly had been unbelievably nice to a kid who had basically stumbled into a speakeasy not having any idea what he was doing there. But they were still gangsters, people who were not afraid to use guns and violence to get what they wanted.

So why was there a part of David that didn't care?

*****

It had been dark for a few hours by the time David left the speakeasy. He never did see Cook again, but he had a nice enough time enjoying the stage show that he didn't mind. The singers that were brought on the stage continued to blow David away. Carly and Michael introduced him to everyone that stopped by their table too, which ended up being almost everyone in the staff and a few of the patrons themselves. Michael made a joke early on that it was because David was sitting at the table everyone wanted to be at, but by the end of the night David couldn't really disagree.

He met the emcee, Ryan, who always made sure the patrons were having a good time. Matt, who was the piano player David had seen when he first walked in, shared a drink with them between sets and then said good night before going home, glad he was able to have an early night for once. Syesha came over and had a drink with them before giving a rather heated kiss to the bartender and going to one of the back rooms. He had even met the fiery Kristy Lee who, after singing her set and saying hi to the three of them, had spent the rest of the night with a table of rowdy college boys and had still gone home at the end of the night by herself.

David didn't understand why he felt like he belonged at the speakeasy, sitting with Michael and Carly, but it wasn't something he wanted to think about too much. For most of his life he had been sharing things with his family, with his brother and sisters, and this was the first thing… ever… that was all his own.

He didn't know what time it was when he crawled through the window that lead into his bedroom. He was quieter than a church mouse as he undressed and slipped into bed, being completely grateful that his brother was such a heavy sleeper.

David pushed the sheets back down and started at the ceiling, his thoughts running in circles. The rays of the sun started tracking along the ceiling before David was able to close his eyes and really get some sleep.

*****

"David, can you stay after?" Miss Brooke said as David's class went on break for lunch.

David warily approached Miss Brooke's desk. Miss Brooke was the nicest teacher he'd had in a long time. She didn't mind when he occasionally got distracted in class, or when he tripped over his own words, and had been the one to even give him the idea that he could do more with his piano playing that just hiding out in the dusty auditorium playing random chords and snippets of songs he made up on the fly.

David had found the old piano two weeks after joining high school. He'd been wandering around the school during lunch, trying to find somewhere to eat without being around anyone else, when he'd found it. The room was perfect, not being too overcrowded with sheet covered objects, but still being out of the way that no one really came down that wing. There was even a desk and couple chairs that were relatively dust free and perfect for David to set down his things. As he'd been eating his ham sandwich, he spotted the ivory keys half hidden under the dust cloth. The piano was a little beat up, but when he'd pressed the keys they hadn't seemed that out of tune.

A few minutes later he'd heard the squeak of the door opening. Quickly turning around, David was prepared to get in trouble for playing when he wasn't supposed to. But instead it was the new teacher that had just started. "Um… Miss Brooke?"

"Keep playing." She smiled softly, pushing back one of her bouncy blonde curls.

David bit his lip. "I'm not very good. I think… I think I'll just go." David watched Miss Brooke sit down on the other half of the piano bench, placing her hands above David's on the ivory keys.

"Nonsense. Don't do that though, try this."

That had been four years ago. Ever since, his relationship with Miss Brooke was one of the things he cherished the most. "Miss Brooke?" David asked, biting his lower lip in nervousness.

"David, is everything alright? You've seemed extra flighty over the last week or so. And normally I wouldn't say anything, but there's your normal flighty and then there's how you've been acting. Are you okay?"

"I'm just… I've got alot on my mind."

Miss Brooke brought over one of the chairs in the front row. "Tell me what's up."

David curled onto the chair. "You ever… feel like maybe you always thought you were supposed to be doing something and then all of a sudden it seems wrong? Like it's not what you're supposed to be doing?"

"Is this about that scholarship I told you about with Juliard?" David bit his lip again. Everyone, from his family to his friends thought it was the scary prospect of college that was making David so distracted, but he hadn't really thought about Juliard ever since he'd first seen Cook. And that just made him feel even more guilty and confused. Here he was getting all wrapped up over something that probably wasn't going to go anywhere and he had his future to think about. "Maybe?" David said softly.

Miss Brooke put her hand on David's shoulder. "Don't think about it for a little while. Focus on something easy. Something that doesn't make you feel like the world under your feet doesn't exist anymore." She smiled softly. "Everything will work itself out the way it's supposed to. But for now, don't worry about things that aren't in your control, all right?" She poked him in the shoulder. "You live in the clouds enough as it is."

David smiled softly. "Okay Miss Brooke. I'll try."

*****

But for all he tried to focus on something other than the Idol and that one night where everything felt oddly right, David just couldn't.

Which was how David found himself yet again at the Idol long after the sun had set.

Knocking on the door, he had an easy smile for the guard on the other side. "Michael right?" David asked, trying to see if he remembered some of the names Carly and Mike introduced him to last time.

The burly man nodded. "Go on ahead. Carly was starting to wonder if you were ever going to come back down again."

"Really?"

"You made an impression little man." Michael ruffled David's hair. "Go say hello."

David straightened out the hair Michael mussed, running his hand though it. He opened the second door to the actual speakeasy and made his way towards the bar. The bartender, same one from the previous night, had an easy smile for him as he approached. "Coke?" He asked.

"Thanks… Chikeze." David's smile widened at the slight nod Chikeze gave him for remembering the name.

Chikeze placed the glass bottle down on the bar top and a manicured hand grabbed it before David could. "Hey there." A blonde girl winked as she took a sip of the coke.

"Hi? Can I have that back now?"

The blonde smiled. "Sure can." She placed the bottle back on the bar top.

David took one of the napkins and wiped off the lipstick smear left behind. "Um, Kristy right?"

Kristy Lee nodded, her blond ringlets bouncing up and down. "Yeah?"

"Don't steal my coke again." David smiled cheekily before taking a sip.

"Oo. I see what Carly likes about you." Kristy Lee smirked.

"Where is Carly?" David asked as Kristy Lee put her arm around his shoulders and lead him towards one of the booths with a direct line of sight to the stage.

Sliding into the booth after David, she said, "She's up first tonight."

"Really?" David asked as Kristy Lee nodded.

"You got here just in time… again."

David shrugged. "I guess I have good timing?"

"You could call it that." Kristy Lee ruffled David's hair. David had to figure out who told everyone it was okay to ruffle his hair and tell them off. David paused when he realized it was probably Mike though. He didn't want to get on the other man's bad side.

The lights dimmed and suddenly the only thing David saw was Matt with his hands poised above the ivories, and Carly sitting on the side of the piano bench closest to the stage, facing out. She was wearing a gold flapper dress, with a frilly gold headband in her hair and black eyeshade around her eyes.

Carly waited until the crowd noise died down a little, which didn't take long considering she was the only thing you could see. "I'm writing you dear, just to tell you/  
In September, you remember…" She paused when she heard the wolf whistles in the crowd, a smile gracing her cherry red lips. David could tell that the song Carly was singing was not only a personal favorite for her but a favorite of the crowd as well. "'neath the old apple tree, you whispered to me…"

"She really is something isn't she? Little minx." Michael said as he leaned over the booth back between David and Kristy Lee. He gave Kristy Lee a kiss on the cheek. "Hello there lovely."

"Why hello to you too." Kristy Lee gave Michael a sly smile. "Is Cook coming out? I know he always likes to watch Carls."

"He'll be out in a minute." Mike said as he slipped into the booth. "Hey David."

"Hey Mike." David smiled. Taking a sip he turned back to watch Carly sing and tuned out whatever Mike was whispering to Kristy Lee. Maybe if he got confident enough, he'd go on stage… but probably not.

Carly was about to start her second song when David felt someone else lean over the booth. "Hey." David felt the tips of his ears go hot. "Can I sit next to you?"

David turned his head, giving Cook a smile. "Maybe? I don't know. There's this guy who's supposed to come out? I thought I'd let him sit here."

Cook's smirk could have lit up the room. "I guess I'll have to duke it out with him then." He said as he came around and sat down next to David.

"I think you'd win." David said as Cook sat down. A waitress came over with drinks for both Cook and Mike. Cook took a sip of his before saying, "So I wasn't too sure if you were ever going to show up again. You seemed kind of scared of this place last time."

David ducked his head. "I was."

"But you got over it." Cook raised his eyebrow.

"But I got over it." David repeated with a smile.

"Glad you did." Cook took another sip of his drink. "So Carly tells me you play?" Cook inclined his head to where Matt was accompanying Carly as she sultry walked across the stage, taunting one of the tables.

"Oh geez, she did?" David bit his lip. "I mean, yeah? I guess I'm good, since Miss Brooke thought I was good enough to get into Julliard, but I don't really like playing for other people? I, um, get really nervous and stuff?"

"Hey Mike, Archie over here might be going to Julliard, what do you think about that?"

"Julliard?" Mike and Kristy Lee echoed, but David was concentrating on something else.

"Archie? What?" David felt himself getting hot under the collar again.

Cook smiled. "Well we can't call you David, otherwise you'd get confused for me, which we can't have. And Archuleta's a mouthful. Sorry to say." Cook didn't appear the least bit contrite. "So Archie. Fits you too." He nudged David's shoulder.

"It's just… no one's ever given me a nickname before." David said nervously as he took a sip of his coke for distraction.

"You're kidding." Mike raised an eyebrow.

"No? It's always been David, or Dave?" David said, ducking his head. "I like it though. Archie." David said, trying to get his mouth around the word.

"Archie." Cook smiled. "But back to this Julliard thing."

"It's not really a thing. I mean Miss Brooke just pushed my application through, but I don't know. My dad wants me to try and go to NYU for math though. Thinks I can do more with that."

"Now that's just crap Archie." Kristy Lee exclaimed. "Julliard ain't nothing. Which one do you want?"

David paused. "Um, I can't decide?"

Mike stared at David, "You've got to know. That's just stupid otherwise."

"Piano? But I'm good at math!"

Cook touched David's shoulder and he turned to look at the other man. "Archie, it's been my experience that if you have to convince yourself about something then it's not something you really want."

David bit his lip. It was something to think about… but he didn't want to go against what his papa wanted. He didn't think he was even capable of it. But in that very moment he was doing something he knew papa didn't want him doing… so maybe he could. "I'll think about it?"

"That's more like it." Cook smiled brightly as Carly finished her first set of the night.

All four of them clapped and both Mike and Cook whistled like mad as Carly descended from the stage. Seeing them, Carly walked over to their table skillfully, avoiding the men in the club with the more grabbier hands.

"Hey sweetheart." Mike said as Carly gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Wonderful as always."

"Still nice to hear you say it every time." Carly smiled wistfully. "David!" She exclaimed as she reached across the table and pulled David up so she could give him a proper hug.

"Oh my gosh Carly, you were so amazing." David gushed.

Carly slipped into the booth, taking a sip of the whiskey that had just been placed on the table for her. "I don't know. Old Apple Tree sounded off to me tonight."

"That's just crazy. There was nothing wrong with that." David said.

"Archie speaks the truth Carls. That was amazing." Cook said.

"Archie? You're okay with that?" Carly raised her eyebrow.

David blushed. "I… like it. No one's given me a nickname before." He ducked his head.

"You're kidding me." Carly exclaimed.

"Um, no?"

"See, it was a good thing we came into that store. We're broadening Archie's horizons as we speak." Cook leaned in. "Next we're going to get him on that stage playing piano with you." He whispered with a smile.

"Coooook." David whined. He ineffectually pushed Cook's shoulder.

Cook took a sip of his drink. "No, no, no. I'm not having any of that. We are going to get you on that stage, come hell or high water."

David shook his head, but deep down he knew it was useless. Cook was almost a force of nature, there was little denying him. Or at least David thought so.

"But that's for another day." Cook said. "Baby steps."

"Even if they're huge." David muttered.

A sudden commotion over at the main entrance pulled the entire tables' attention towards whatever was going on. The same guy who David saw come over the previous time was coming over again. "What's up Luke?" Cook said as he stood up. He wasn't about to let any unrest in his speakeasy go without action.

"You're not going to like it boss." Luke said.

Cook was already out of the booth though. "Who is it?"

"Kim."

"Oh for christ's sake. Will a dame not get a hint?" Mike sighed loudly.

"Who's Kim?" David whispered to Kristy Lee.

"Cook's latest ex. Hasn't seemed to get the hint that Cook dumped her though. She keeps trying to come back in, trying to convince him that he was wrong. I honestly don't know how you didn't see her last time you were here." She whispered back.

"Luck of the draw." Michael said sarcastically.

They all watched as Cook tried talking to a woman with short blonde hair who seemed to wear entirely too much make up in David's opinion. Krsty Lee, Carly and Michael all winced when the blonde woman slapped Cook across the face, his head lolling to the side.

"Get out!" Cook roared, loud enough to be heard over the din of the club. All activity stopped for the moment. "If I ever see you in here again, I won't be responsible for what happens." David heard Carly tisk.

"I can see why Kelly left you, you bastard." Kim gave as a parting shot before turning on her heel and walking right back out the door. The music started back up again in earnest, and everyone eventually turned back to whatever conversation they were having.

Cook waked back over to the table, Michael trailing after him. "I'm sorry boss. Miss Kim just stormed in and I couldn't get her to leave."

Cook slid back into the booth on David's side. Taking a sip of his drink he said, "Don't worry about it Michael. I shouldn't have started anything with her to begin with. But if you see her around here again, you can shoot her."

Michael nodded and disappeared into the crowd, going back to man the front door.

"Why does that woman… Kim… hate you so much?" David asked.

"She was a bad decision and can't seem to let it go." Cook sighed.

"I told you that one when you started seeing her Dave." Carly said with a smirk.

"I know. You like to rub it in my face every so often." Cook rolled his eyes. "It took me a little while to realize Kim was more into what I was, not who I was."

"Really?" David asked.

"Really." Cook nodded.

David understood how some people probably liked the allure of Cook more than anything, but after meeting Cook for all of two minutes in his papa's store he knew that whatever you thought about him, it wasn't even close to who he was.

And that was something that made David smile.

*****

Kim couldn't believe Dave had just… thrown her out like that. No one threw Kimberly Caldwell out. Not even David Cook.

And those… people he considered his friends. There was nothing special about Carly Smithson, some street rat who had just lucked out by becoming friends with Dave when she did. If she had known David before he took over the neighborhood, it would probably be her and not that hussy. Although she doesn't think she'd be able to stand Michael Johns. He was an annoyance of the highest sort. And that woman Kristy Lee… she had absolutely no manners at all. Playing around with all those college boys and stringing them along like some girl on the street.

She didn't know who that new kid was that had been sitting at what was supposed to be her table, but she bet he was just another charity case. Carly liked to take them in every so often, Kim didn't know why.

"So you're the latest Cook castoff aren't you?" Kim had been fuming to herself as she'd walked down the street and had been completely surprised when the other man approached her.

Kim eyed the man warily. He was definitely connected, that much was sure from his crisply tailored suit. But the bald head… there was something dangerous about the man. Something that Kim liked.

"And what's it to you?" Kim said haughtily.

"Name is Chris Daughtry. And I think you and I have something in common." The man smiled, his sharp teeth reminding Kim of a shark. He held out his arm in invitation.

"I'm listening." Kim said, taking his arm and seeing where Chris would lead her.

*****

"Daaaaaaavid. David David David." David smiled as he saw Allison running down the street calling his name. Allison was unlike any girl David knew. She wasn't prissy like most of the other girls her age that David knew, and she liked hanging out with David and Danny more than the other girls in the neighborhood.

Allison even went to school every day unlike David's own sisters who only went one or two days a week. Allison had told her once that it was because her adopted brothers Kris and Adam thought it was silly that just because she was a girl she was supposed to stay at home and learn all about those "girly things" as Allison put it. They wanted Allison to have the same opportunity everyone else did, so she went to school everyday.

David smiled as he was finally attacked by an armful of red hair and bright smile. "What's got you so happy?"

"Nothing." She smiled as she settled back onto the street and took David's hand.

"Liar."

Allison shrugged. "It's a nice day out, I'm going out to dinner with two of my favorite boys tonight, life is good for once." She said as the two started walking down the street. "So where were you going before I saw you?"

"The bakery. Mama asked me to pick up a couple loaves of bread and some pastries for breakfast."

"Aw, you're such a good son." Allison smiled cheekily as she nudged David in the shoulder. David felt the tips of his ears go red.

The two of them walked in silence for a few moments, making a game of avoiding some of the mud puddles from the previous night's rainstorm. "Hey Alli?" David asked, sidestepping another puddle.

"Yeah Dave?"

"What do you think of David Cook?" David had gone to the Idol a half dozen times since that first night, and it was getting harder and harder for him to keep quiet. He had thought it over backwards and forwards since then, and he wanted to bring someone he knew in on his secret. And David figured Allison was the most open minded of everyone.

He didn't expect Allison to stop in the middle of the street. "Cook? How do you know Cook?"

David turned around so he was facing Allison. "How do you know Cook?" He hadn't heard anyone outside of the speakeasy call David Cook by his last name, something that Cook had told him he only allowed his friends to call him by. Most everybody else was too scared.

Allison looked to both sides before she grasped David's hand and walked across the street to the alley. Stopping in the shadow, she turned back so she was facing David. "No one else can know about this Dave. I mean nobody, not even Danny."

David had never seen Allison so serious before. "Promise." He nodded his head.

Allison took a deep breath. "Kris and Adam work with Cook. I can't tell you what? Cause they would get sooooooo mad if I told you, but trust me they've known each other a while."

"A while?" David parroted. He was surprised that Allison had been keeping that from her for as long as she had. Allison didn't keep anything secret. Ever.

Allison nodded. "Cook's dangerous, but he's a nice guy. Really really nice. As long as you don't get on his bad side." Allison bit her lip.

David couldn't help but agree with that one. Images of Cook walking out of the hallway that lead to the basement of the club ran through David's mind, and one time he could remember Cook yelling to "Just get it done, I don't care how. Break his legs if you have to."

Yeah Cook definitely had a bad side that you didn't want to cross.

Allison took David's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Why are you asking?" She tilted her head to the side.

David rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "Everybody knows I've been distracted over the last few weeks… but um, it's not because of school or Miss Brooke's scholarship, or anything like that…"

"Dave… why didn't you tell me sooner you were going to the Idol?" Everyone thought that just because Allison was bubbly she wasn't smart. But she was smarter than almost any girl David had ever met.

"At first it wasn't anything!" He defended. "I was just going there to see what it was… but I don't think it's just that anymore. I really like going there. Cook, Carly, Mike, Kristy Lee, Jason even Matt… they keep on asking me to play too. Did you know that? I don't think they're going to take no for an answer anymore." He couldn't help the smile that curled the corners of his lips. Two night ago before leaving for the night, Cook had joked that next time David walked in they were going to tie him to the piano bench and not let him leave until he played for them.

Allison looked at David for one long uncomfortable minute… or at least it was uncomfortable for David. "Okay, that's it." Allison seemed to have come to some sort of decision.

"What?" David asked, clueless.

"David, would you be my boyfriend?"

*****

Allison told David that she wasn't going to try and stop David from going to the Idol. She wouldn't tell him why, she said that was something David was going to have to figure out for himself, but she was going to make it easier for him to sneak out.

Everyone thought they would make a cute couple anyway, she'd told him, so why not let everyone think it was true.

David tried to protest, say it wasn't fair to her if he was a fake boyfriend, but Allison was having none of that. She wanted David to have someone safe to talk to, and she had appointed herself as that someone.

The only thing she had asked David was to be careful. She liked Cook well enough, but that didn't mean she didn't think what Cook did wasn't dangerous. It sounded to David like she spoke from experience, but Allison had made him promise not to ask what Kris and Adam did that meant they worked with Cook so much, and he always kept a promise.

It was with a skip in his step that he walked to the Idol that night. It was the first time David was supposed to be staying over at Allison's for the night, and after giving Allison a quick kiss on the cheek, the two had parted ways; Allison going back to her house and David walking off to the Idol.

David knocked twice in quick succession on the back door to the Idol, using the code Cook had given him to enter the speakeasy through the door only employees and members of the Cook's inner circle used.

"You're early." Matt said as he opened the door.

"Hey Matt, can I play tonight?" David didn't even realize the words were out of his mouth until he heard them from his own ears. He covered his mouth and stopped in the hall, not believing what he had just said. But David was in an oddly good mood and decided then and there to just go with whatever happened tonight.

Matt stopped in his tracks. "You want to play Arch?"

David blushed, but nodded anyway. "Could I maybe… do Carly's set tonight?"

"When Cook hears this he's going to go nuts." The smile Matt had on his face could rival the Cheshire Cat's. David could feel the blush all the way down to his toes. He grabbed Matt's wrist. "Don't tell him yet. I want it to be a surprise."

"Ooh, you're being really brave tonight." Matt smiled. "I like."

Matt and David walked to the dressing room. Opening the door, David only saw Kristy Lee and Syesha inside. "Hi."

"Hey Archie." Kristy Lee and Syesha gave David hugs.

"Hey Kristy, can you go get Carly?" Matt asked. Kristy Lee raised her eyebrow. "Archie's gonna do Carly's set tonight and she needs to know."

Both girls were beaming as Kristy Lee left to go find Carly. "You sure?" Syesha asked. David nodded.

For the next few minutes Matt and David went over the cues and keys for Carly's set. When Carly finally walked in she gave David a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Cook isn't going to know what hit him." She smiled before her and David went over her set one time together.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye to David, Ryan was calling Carly to the stage. "What… Archie?" He paused when he saw Carly with her arm around David. "Is Matt okay? Why are you going on instead of him?"

"Relax Ryan." Carly soothed. "Matt's fine. Archie just feels like playing for us tonight instead. Isn't that right Archie?" David nodded.

Ryan smiled. "It's a good thing Cook's already in the audience. Just hope he doesn't get pulled away this time." The spotlight on stage turned on. "That's my cue."

David couldn't stop the butterflies in his stomach as he heard Ryan say, "We have a special treat for you tonight. Playing piano for Carly we have a special guest. Give a warm round of applause to David Archuleta." Carly kept her arm around David as the two of them walked out together to cheers from the audience. Carly gave David's shoulders a squeeze before they separated to start the set.

David rested his hands of the keys for a moment, taking a deep breath before starting the notes for "Apple Blossom Time". The first few notes were tentative, David had never played for any kind of audience before, let alone one this big, but once he got used to the ivory keys under his touch the notes flowed out of him and he let the music take over. David was almost surprised when he heard Carly come in he had gotten so lost in the introduction.

Carly fit into David's playing so seamlessly it was like they had been doing this for years and not for the first time. Carly even smiled and started adding extra runs and lines to the chorus. David smirked and changed the key on her for "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Carly laughed, the sound clear and loud as it rose above the crowd.

When the last notes of "Deep in My Heart" resonated through the speakeasy, David almost couldn't believe it was over. He wanted to keep going, maybe all night if he could.

Carly walked over to the piano bench. "Come on big cheese. It's time to get off the stage for the next set." She ruffled David's hair.

David had barely gotten off the stage when he was attacked with hugs and well wishes. Matt wanted him to do the entire show for the rest of the night, but David realized his hands were shaking so badly he'd probably mess it up somewhere along the line.

Mike and Cook were waiting in the dressing room when Carly and David were finally able to make their way back. Mike stood up and gave Carly a hug and a kiss. Ruffling David's hair, he said, "You didn't tell us you were that good Arch. Christ, if we knew you played like that we would have demanded you go on stage when you first got here."

David blushed. "Glad you… liked it so much."

"Liked it? My girl has never sounded better, and I have you to thank for that." Mike smiled as he nudged David in the shoulder.

Cook had been oddly silent the whole time, to the point where David was honestly scared of what he was going to say. Did he like it? Hate it? Was he going to tell David to get out and never see him again? David didn't know what he'd do if it was the last option.

"Um… Cook?" David walked over to where Cook was still sitting. "What… did you think?"

Cook stood up.

"What are you doing Cook?" Cook took David's face in his hands.

"This." David didn't think your brain could just stop working for a second. But when Cook leaned in and kissed him, all he could remember was white noise and the warmth of Cook's lips on his own.

Cook finally ended the kiss, and David remembered that he had to breathe. Cook kept his forehead against David's, stroking his arm while David got his breath back. "…Wow." David breathed against Cook's lips.

Cook smiled. "Yeah."

"So I guess you liked it?" David asked as he heard Mike and Carly's hoots of approval in the background.

Cook laughed. "Yeah Arch, I liked it. Loved it in fact."

David smiled. "Good."

"I say this calls for a celebratory drink. Several in fact." Mike smirked.

Cook put his arm around David's shoulders and David snuggled into his side. "I think that's an excellent idea."

Walking back into the main section of the speakeasy, David caught Chikeze giving him a smile and a laugh as Mike yelled "Whiskey for everyone!" and got a rousing cheer. Next to him, Cook's body shook in silent laughter.

"What's so funny?" David whispered into Cook's ear.

Cook leaned down. "Mike will find any excuse to serve out a free round."

David shrugged. "Mike's just happy." He shuffled into their usual booth as one of the waitresses set down four glasses of the house whiskey. David pushed the glass away from him.

"Aw Arch, tonight is a night to celebrate. Have a sip at least." Mike said, a whine in his voice.

David eyed the glass. He was already doing a lot of firsts tonight so one more couldn't hurt right? David lightly grasped the glass and brought it in front of him. He eyed it for a moment before bringing the glass to his lips and taking a sip.

It burned like fire and tasted like old socks as it went down his throat. David crossed his eyes and shoved the glass away from him.

"Guess Archie doesn't like whiskey." Cook smiled as he gave David a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Um, no?" David bit his lip. "It tastes like old socks or something."

Carly, Mike and Cook all laughed. "Let's get you a coke Arch." Carly said, mirth in her voice as she flagged down the waitress.

David lost all track of time that night, which seemed to happen almost every night he was at the Idol. Before he knew it, it was the end of the night and Chikeze was giving last call to the few remaining patrons left.

"You haven't left yet." Cook whispered into David's ear, giving him a kiss on the side of the neck. Carly and Mike had left a few minutes ago, both of them wishing David and Cook good night with a smile.

David shook his head. "Don't have anywhere else to be tonight."

"Is that why you decided to go on stage?" Cook asked.

David thought about it for a second. He'd felt freer than he had in a long time by finally having someone he could confide in. So maybe that was what made it so easy for him to finally decide to step onto the stage. "Maybe?" The corner of David's mouth upturned into a smile.

"Well we can't waste a night like tonight can we?" Cook asked rhetorically as he pulled David out of the booth.

"Night boss." Chikeze smiled as Cook lead David out of the speakeasy.

David dug his heels in a little bit. "But what about…"

"Chikeze and Luke are okay for the next few hours." David could see the mirth in Cook's eyes. "Now come on."

Neither of them noticed the man wearing a black suit trailing after them.

*****

Ace Young loved what he did. Being one of the right hand men for Justin Guarini meant he had the ear of one of the most powerful gang leaders in downtown Manhattan. And Justin let him and Daughtry do what they wanted on the streets, which always brought a smile to Ace's face.

All Guarini asked was that they stayed loyal to him until the bitter end.

Which Ace was happy to do. Even thought David Cook had become the thorn in their side that just didn't seem to go away.

Cook had moved into Hell's Kitchen like he owned the place, and everyone in the neighborhood seemed to fall in love with him instantly. Ace hated people that came in and acted like your best friend when all they really wanted to do was stab you in the back and hang you up by your toes. And David Cook seemed like exactly that kind of person to Ace.

So when Chris walked into the mansion with Kimberly Caldwell, Cook's latest ex, Ace couldn't believe it. And when Kim started spilling every detail that she could remember about Cook's latest operations, it felt like a gift that Ace hadn't even asked for was thrown right into his lap.

The icing on the cake was when Kimberly mentioned the new boy in Cook's inner circle.

David Archuleta. It didn't take long to figure out the name of kid, not when Archuleta was downright terrible at hiding the path he took almost every other night from Cook's speakeasy to his own home atop the store that bore his father's name.

Chris wanted to strike back almost as soon as they realized where Archuleta lived. But Justin had a weird sort of smile on his face as he had forbidden the two of them from any kind of retaliation until the moment was right.

"I want Cook to feel pain. And is there any other pain than when your lover turns your back on you?" He had said cryptically.

Ace didn't know what Justin meant at the time, but watching Cook escort Archuleta down the streets of Hell's Kitchen with his hands all over the boy, Ace finally realized it.

What better way to kill your enemy than by having their lover do it for you.

*****

David didn't think there was any better feeling in the world than how he was feeling that morning. He had played the night before and everyone kept on stopping at the table to tell him how good he had been and if he was ever playing again. It was a good thing Cook's arm had been around him the whole night otherwise he probably would have had girls fighting to kiss him on top of it all.

Cook… even though they hadn't done anything except kissing, David couldn't imagine anything better. They had fallen asleep together on Cook's bed and the only reason David had left was because he had to get to school. Cook didn't want to disrupt David's routine that much yet, especially since everything was so new.

"I see you had a nice time last night." Allison had a smile on her face as she sat waiting outside the school for David.

David lifted up Allison in a hug. "Such a good time. Thank you Alli." He gave Allison an extra squeeze.

"Give your fake girlfriend a kiss." She smiled as she tapped her cheek.

David was all too happy to give Allison a kiss on the cheek. Grasping her hand he said, "You know I played last night? First time in front of… anyone really." David's smile was blinding. "It was amazing. I don't think I could imagine doing anything else."

Allison smiled. "At least you figured something out."

David turned to Allison. "I figured out more than that." He gave Allison's hand a squeeze. "Is that why you said you'd do this for me?"

Allison blushed so her cheeks were light pink. "Maybe."

"Some guy is going to be very lucky to have you Alli." David smiled gently.

"Yeah if Kris or Adam don't kill him first." Allison laughed.

David nudged her shoulder. "I'm sure it won't be that bad."

Allison arched her eyebrow. "Did I forget to mention that Kris and Adam know how to hide dead bodies? It's part of their job. So yeah…. any potential boyfriends are going to have a little bit of a problem on their hands."

David raised both of his eyebrows in response. "Is that what they do?"

Allison pulled on a lock of her bright red hair. "Maybe? But you didn't hear that from me."

"My lips are sealed." The late bell ringing cut off their conversation for now.

"David! I'd like to talk to you before lunch." Miss Brooke smiled when she saw David and Allison walk into class.

"Okay Miss Brooke." David blushed as he slid into his seat and saw the smirk Danny was giving him.

"Now that, you're going to have to tell me more about." Danny smirked as he tilted his head towards Allison.

"No he doesn't." Allison smiled.

"Yeah Danny, shut up." David hissed as Miss Brooke started her lessons for the day.

Danny just held up his hands as he turned back towards the board.

David tried taking notes that morning, but he knew it was useless. Between thinking about Cook and whatever Miss Brooke wanted to tell him, he was in no state to pay attention.

So it was with a sense of relief that he heard the lunch bell ring. "I'll talk to you in a little bit?" Allison said softly, gripping David's hand. David nodded.

Miss Brooke was putting away her notes for the morning class when David approached her desk. "David, I'd like you to read this." She smiled softly as she handed David a piece of paper.

David started to read, "Dear Mr. Archuleta, it is with great pleasure that I am writing to let you know… that you have been accepted into Julliard's… fall program of the arts… on full scholarship…" His vision was becoming blurry so David stopped reading.

"You got in David. You got the scholarship." Miss Brooke had a wide smile on her face.

"I… I got the scholarship? I got the scholarship!" David's smile was beaming as Miss Brooke gave him a hug.

"So have you made your decision yet David?" Miss Brooke asked him.

David stared at the paper that had his future all laid on in front of him if only he would take it. And then he remembered the night before. Being on that stage and playing the piano. "Yeah, I think I finally have."

*****

"So then Anna tells me that Peter has been staring at me for the last two months." Claudia smiled.

"Peter is a fine young man." David heard his mama say, but he wasn't really paying attention. Ever since he had gotten home he had been trying to find the right way to tell his parents that he had gotten the scholarship.

"David, isn't that wonderful?" Lupe asked her son.

David blinked. "Oh yeah, that's great."

"Oh Davey, what's wrong with you? You've been preoccupied all night and you haven't even touched your dinner." Lupe tisked.

David rubbed the back of his neck. "I have something to tell you."

"Oh?" Jeff asked as he took a bite of chicken.

"That, um, scholarship with Julliard that Miss Brooke put me in for?" David started nervously.

Jeff set his fork down. "Yes." He said slowly. "But David, I thought you were going to let that go."

"I got in. Full scholarship. I can start in the fall." David said in a rush.

David heard his sisters squeal in joy, his brother go "That's swell" and heard his mother say, "David that's wonderful!" but all David really saw was the grim line of his father's mouth.

"Papa?"

"Children, please go to your rooms." Jeff spoke slowly to make sure he was completely understood.

David gulped as he took his untouched dinner roll and scrambled with the rest of his siblings. David laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, ripping up the roll and putting pieces in his mouth. He heard bits of his parents' conversation, and none of it sounded good on his father's side.

"Papa'll come around Dave, you'll see. He has to." David heard his brother mumble before he finally went to sleep.

It seemed like hours later when he heard a knock on the door. "Can I come in?" David saw his mother's head peak through the crack in the doorway.

"Sure mama." David said as he sat up on his bed.

Lupe gathered her skirts before sitting on her son's bed. "David, why didn't you tell me you had gotten the scholarship before your father had finished minding the store?"

David honestly didn't know. His mind had been full of everything else that he just didn't think of it. "Sorry mama." David said, his cheeks stained pink with blush.

"Well your father wasn't happy about it. But I think I got him to at least calm down." Lupe said softly. "He just wants the best for you David, you know that right?"

David nodded. "I do, but Julliard is something I really want to do. I'm good at it mama." He implored.

Lupe cupped her son's cheek. She had never seen her son defiant about anything except for his love of music. Lupe kissed her son's forehead. "Your papa will come around David, just give him a little bit of time."

"I hope so mama." Moisture collected at the corner of David's eyes, "I really do."

Because David didn't know what he'd do if his father told him no.

*****

"He just thinks I'd be throwing my life away." David sighed into Cook's chest the next night. It was a Friday night, which meant that he and Cook could stay in bed all night and into the next morning if they wanted to. When David had told Cook that he had gotten into Julliard, Cook had been ecstatic. But Cook had cut his celebration short when he saw that David still seemed a little bit miserable.

Which lead to the two of them on Cook's couch and David telling Cook the whole story about his father's reluctance about Julliard from the start.

"Has your father ever heard you play? He'd have to change his tune if he heard what you did with Carls." Cook said, playing with the hairs at the base of David's scalp.

"He's heard me maybe once? My papa thinks it's more important to put your head down and work. I just… can't do that." David bit his lip.

"You need to tell him that Archie." Cook gave the top of David's head a kiss.

"But what if… what if he gets even madder at me and kick… kicks me out?" David stumbled over his words.

"That's what you've got us for now." Cook smiled. "I'm sure we can find somewhere for you to stay if your father kicks you out."

"Yeah, I can stay with Allison. Or Carly." David smiled back.

Cook gave David a Look. "Were you just teasing me? Did my Archie actual learn how to tease?"

"No?" David continued to smile.

"And now he's trying to be sarcastic." Cook ruffled David's hair. "I guess I really am a bad influence." He smirked.

David laughed as he snuggled further into Cook. "Absolutely."

The two of them were silent for a few moments, enjoying each other's company. Cook rubbing his fingertips along David's sides and David tapping out random bits of music on Cook's chest.

After a while David broke the comfortable silence, "Cook?"

"Yeah Arch?"

David lifted his head and looked at Cook. "Can I… ask you something?"

Cook nodded his head so David continued. "Um, what happened to Carrie?"

Cook stopped stroking David's side. "Sit up." He said as the two of them resituated themselves on the couch. "Remind me I owe Mike a fiver."

"What?" David was puzzled. He'd been wondering how to ask Cook about Carrie for a while, but of all the things he imagined Cook saying, he didn't think he would say that.

Cook shook his head. "It's fine Archie. Mike was sure that eventually you'd ask me about her, and I bet him a fiver that you wouldn't. That's all."

"Oh, um, okay?" David asked, uncertain.

"It's okay Arch." Cook smiled. "Carrie was one of those girls that was a total knockout. Funny, sweet, smart as a whip too. She was the only one that ever beat Andy at five card stud. And trust me when I tell you that is very hard to do." Cook let out a short laugh. "We practically grew up together."

Cook paused for a moment and David waited for him to continue. "Carrie kissed me first. Just walked right up, kissed me on the cheek, and said, 'I'm your girlfriend now.' Stupid Neal couldn't stop laughing. We were… 16?" Cook had a sad smile on his face. "I didn't know what hit me."

Cook took a deep breath. "We were together so long and knew each other so well I honestly didn't know what I'd do without her. So I asked her to marry me." Cook bit his lip. "Then everything went pear shaped in Boston… Adam died… and pops told me that he was thinking of expanding his territory. He'd been eyeing New York for a while, and he wanted me to run it. Neal's too… hot headed, and Drew's too much of a baby. With Adam gone…"

"Who's Adam?" David gripped Cook's hand.

"He's… was… my older brother. He was sick... and when he died I didn't handle it well. The dead bodies I left in Southie can attest to that one." Cook barked out a laugh. "Carrie was the only thing that talked me down."

David grasped Cook's hand before Cook continued. "After pop made sure everything was in place he moved back up to Boston, and I was officially in charge. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. If I didn't have Mike, Carly and Carrie I would have really messed up." Cook let out a sigh.

"I wanted it to work out with Guarini. Find some kind of way to coexist, leave him to his business and me to mine… but Guarini only wanted me out. Mike was trying to convince me that the only way to get through to Guarini was through killing. But I thought that maybe, just maybe, we didn't have to start on the wrong foot. I was an idiot." He spat.

"Carrie had gone out to the bakery to sample some of the cakes that we could have for our wedding. But when she didn't come back… I started to get worried. Did I mention that Carrie was lethal with a knife? She had her knife out and could draw blood before you could even blink. So when she wanted to go alone to the bakery I didn't think twice about it. My girl could defend herself." Cook smirked.

"But then Luke comes running in to our first office saying something about Carrie and dead… Mike and I found her where we ended up building the stage. Stabbed with one of the same knives Guarini likes to use. I actually went up to Guarini point blank and asked him if he had done it. The bastard told me to my face, 'I'm glad the whore is dead. But I didn't do it.' Calling my Carrie… a whore… The only reason I didn't kill him on the spot was Carly telling me it would be a bad idea. I took the territory instead." Cook sighed. "So that's it. I'm here, he's there, and we're going to keep on killing each other until one of us cracks. You sure you still want this?" He looked into David's eyes.

David cupped Cook's cheek. "Don't have anywhere else to be." He came in and gave Cook a chaste kiss on the lips.

Cook didn't know what he had done to deserve Archie, didn't think there was anything he could have possibly done, but he was dammed glad he had him now.

And he wasn't letting go.

*****

"There's just no way around it. Not telling your parents is going to turn out bad. Maybe… maybe you could just tell your mama?" Allison said as the two of them were walking back to David's home the next morning.

"Maybe? Let me think about it Alli?" David bit his lip. David felt like what was happening to him was too perfect. He was going to be able to go to the college he wanted to. He had a boyfriend… a boyfriend that loved him unconditionally. David didn't see himself ever having a girlfriend let alone a boyfriend, and while it was scary as hell, he found he didn't mind it so much.

Everything felt to David like it was falling into place, strange as it was, and he didn't want to move too fast too quickly.

Telling his parents just seemed like it was tempting fate.

"Okay Dave, if you don't want to, I won't push it yet." Allison smiled softly as they stopped in front of David's doorstop. She was about to kiss David on the cheek when she stopped. "Hey Dave…"

"Yeah Alli?"

Allison nodded her head towards the door that lead up to the home. "That isn't always open is it?"

David turned and saw the front door open a crack. "No?" David bit his lip as the two walked up and David nudged the door open.

The stairway was in ruins. The few pictures his papa had hung on the walls were smashed and broken on the floor. The wallpaper was torn in spots and completely off in others. Allison took David's hand before the two slowly walked up the stairwell.

The front door upstairs creaked as David slowly opened it. Someone had torn into the couch and the feathers were gently fluttering all around the destroyed room. Davd could see into the kitchen and he saw the plates and his mama's good china smashed on the floor. "Alli, call Cook."

Allison nodded as she lifted her skirts and walked over to the old rotary phone in the kitchen. It didn't always work, but David was hoping it did just this once.

David made his way towards the bedrooms, hoping that the pit in his stomach was just nerves and not what he thought it was.

He felt like throwing up when he opened the door to his parents' room. His sisters were huddled together in one corner, their throats slashed. Daniel… someone had gorged out his brother's eyes and shot him in the chest. And his parents, his parents had been shot, their bodies crumpled oddly to the side of the door, as if they had been collateral damage after someone had forced the door open. Claudia… where was Claudia? David ran to his older sister's room, hoping she wasn't there, that she had been spared somehow.

His hopes were dashed when he saw her laying face down on her bed, shot in the back.

"David? I called and I think I got through… David!" Allison exclaimed when she saw David hunched over himself out in the hallway. "What happened?"

"I can't… you're going to have to see for yourself Alli… cause I… I can't…" David stuttered.

Allison walked past David and looked into Claudia's room. "Oh David." She exclaimed, covering her mouth.

She collapsed next to David against the wall. "Is everyone else…"

David rested his head on Allison's shoulder. "They're dead. Everybody's dead." Tears started to fall out of the corners of his eyes.

Time seemed to stand still waiting for Cook to show. Finally David heard Cook frantically yell, "Archie! Arch where are you?"

"Down here Cook!" Allison yelled. They heard someone move things out of the way and then Cook was there at the mouth of the hallway. David and Allison scrambled up and David ran towards the other man, slamming into his chest and wrapping him in a hug.

"Allison, what are you doing here?" Cook asked as David hid his face in Cook's chest.

"I'm his fake girlfriend remember?" Allison smiled.

"Do you think you could…" Cook didn't want to ask outright, not with David there.

"Consider it done." Allison kissed David on the head before walking out.

"Cook…" Mike didn't want to interrupt, but they didn't have a lot of time. Cook nodded his head in the direction of the bedrooms. Mike gently slipped past and went to go take stock of the carnage.

"They'redead…deaddeaddead." David mumbled into Cook's chest.

"What was that babe?" Cook asked.

David suddenly pushed himself away from Cook and walked into the living room. He wrapped his arms around his waste as he yelled, "They're DEAD! Because of you!"

"It was Young and Daughtry. I recognize their handiwork anywhere." Mike said softly as he watched Cook watch David try to console himself.

Cook unholstered his gun, and held it out butt first, a bewildered Mike wondering what the heck he was doing. "Here, take it." David stared at the gun before tentatively taking it in his grasp. "Go ahead Arch. Shoot me if you think it'll bring your family back. I'm the one who brought you into this life, brought this down on you. I wasn't the one to pull the trigger, but it might as well have been me. So go ahead… SHOOT ME!" Cook screamed, stepping closer to David, the gun barrel pressing into his chest. He didn't think that David would shoot him, David just didn't seem like that kind of person. But Cook didn't know what David needed in that moment, and this seemed like the best alternative.

"I… I can't… I…"

"Let me help you." Cook whispered as he encircled David's hands on the gun. "It's okay Archie, I understand."

"Cook-" Cook could hear the warning in Mike's tone, but this wasn't something up for argument.

"I've got this Mike. Why don't you go get Luke, I think we'll need more hands on deck. Get Carly too." Cook's eyes followed Mike as he walked out the door. "There you go Arch, nobody around to see you do it. If you're going to do it now would be the best time, don't you think?" Cook smiled softly, knowing that he had called David's bluff.

There was a long silence between the two men, the gun heavy between them. Cook watched the tears that continued to fall from David's eyes, "I don't know what to do. I…"

"It's okay babe." Moisture started gathering in Cook's own eyes. "That's what I'm here for." Cook mentally sighed when David collapsed back against him and Cook was able to reholster his gun.

As he cuddled David close, Cook idly wondered if Young and Daughtry knew they had just signed their own death warrants.

*****

The sun had barely broken over the city skyline, dark blues and purples giving way to oranges and yellows when Cook felt like he could leave David without the younger man falling apart. He had held his lover in his arms, cradling Archie slowly back and forth in one of the only rooms in David's house that wasn't destroyed by Young and Daughtry, when Johns came back with Carly and Luke. Allison came back moments later with Adam and Kris.

Carly and Allison immediately took David from Cook's arms, surrounding him, while Cook talked over the best way to handle the situation with Mike, Luke, Adam and Kris. Kris and Adam prided themselves on never taking sides… but when they did the other didn't stand a chance. They knew how to hide the bodies after all.

Cook knew that the only place he would feel safe keeping Archie was one of the safe houses. There was no question, and no one felt the need to argue with him either. So after Kris and Adam walked through Archie's house and took stock of what they needed to do, Carly took Archie through the house and let him collect whatever belongings he wanted to. Archie had two satchels filled with everything from clothes to family photos by the time he was done.

Allison decided to stay and help Kris and Adam so it was only the five of them as they rushed across town in the twilight hours and set Archie up in one of the safe houses that were on the outreaches of Cook's territory. Cook figured that the safest place for Archie wasn't right next to him but tucked away and protected.

Archie was having none of that though. He wanted to stay with Cook, stay with the one thing that made sense to him in the middle of everything.

Not only that, but Archie didn't want to be kept out of whatever Cook had planned, even though Cook hadn't thought that far ahead yet. First thing they had to do was find the two enforcers. But when that happened, Archie wanted to be there, and Cook was having none of that. Call Cook crazy but he didn't want Archie getting his hands dirty in the whole sordid mess. Young and Daughtry were going to pay for what they'd done, but Cook wanted Archie to stay out of it… stay innocent.

"You know you're insane right? There's no way Archie is staying out. We'd all move heaven and earth for that kid. You know that." Mike said as the two of them finally made it back to the Idol.

"You're supposed to listen to me. I'm the boss." Cook said, Mike holding the door open for him as the two slipped through. They nodded to Chikeze as the bartender made his way out. His job was done for the night and he had a dame waiting for him at home.

"And I do listen to you… most of the time." Mike smirked. Short of Carly, Mike was the only one in the organization who was allowed to get away with disagreeing with Cook. A fact he took advantage of as often and as many times as he could.

"Why I put up with you I still don't know." Cook sighed.

"Cause I shoot faster than you do?" Mike still had the smirk on his face as he opened the door that lead into the speakeasy proper.

"That has to be it." Cook let out a short bark of a laugh.

"You know Archie's fine right? He's safe with Luke and Carly." Mike said softly.

Cook paused. "Yeah." He sighed.

Jason, Matt, Kristy Lee, Michael, and even Ryan, who normally stayed out of the more dirtier aspects of running the speakeasy, were sitting at a table in the far corner. Kris was waiting as well, which told Cook that the job was done even before Kris opened his mouth.

Kris tilted up his fedora from his slouched position in the booth when Cook and Mike approached the table. Looking up at Cook he said, "Adam is doing the finishing touches right now." He yawned, stretching out like a cat and arching his back. Cook was still surprised that Kris was one of the craftiest people he'd met in Hell's Kitchen, yet he acted like he couldn't care less about what happened around him at all. "He also wanted me to tell you something… well we both wanted to."

Cook braced his hands on the table. "Yeah?"

"Take Guarini down once and for all. Alli didn't calm down for two hours after you left with Archie, and that just won't do." Kris said coldly. "You don't mess with our girl and get away with it."

"Well first we have to find Young and Daughtry. Get rid of the help and it's easier to get rid of him." Mike said from his position across from Kris at the table.

Kris looked straight at Mike then Cook. "They went to ground. Ground so deep neither Adam nor I could figure out where, and we tried."

"Damn it." Cook cursed.

Kris raised his eyebrow. "You didn't let me finish though."

"Yes?"

"Besides Guarini there's one other person who knows where they are. And he's alot easier to find." Kris smiled evilly. "Elliot Yamin."

"Who the hell is that?" Jason asked.

Kris turned to the table. "Yamin isn't with the Guarini family, never wanted to be, but he did grow up with Young and Daughtry. Their families practically lived on top of each other when they were kids. You get Yamin to talk and finding the other two will be easy."

Cook smiled. "And you know where Yamin is don't you?"

Kris shared Cook's smile. "Why yes Cook, I do."

*****

Elliot Yamin hadn't made it out of Hell's Kitchen, but he'd come pretty close. He was part of the troupe of singers that did regular performances at Carnegie Hall, entertaining crowds nightly. He lived in a small sublet that was close to the music hall, and Kris told Cook it was just a matter of sitting in wait for Yamin to come back, since Kris knew that Yamin had decided to do his own hiding if there was no way to find Young and Daughtry.

Cook placed two of his men on the address at all hours, Michael and Jason taking the first, and longest, shift. Michael and Jason came back empty handed, which pissed the Aussie off to no end. Cook knew it wasn't going to be that easy though.

But when Matt and Luke came back escorting a practically hog-tied Yamin into his office only three hours into their shift, Cook was wondering if maybe he was wrong.

Yamin was already sporting a black eye and a split lip, but Michael gave him one more good punch to the gut that had Yamin folding in half before Cook said, "Toss him in the basement. We'll figure out what to do with him later."

Matt had a smile on his face as he pushed Yamin back out, the other man stumbling and knocking his side into the door jamb as they left.

Mike turned to Cook once the three were gone. "I thought you wanted to move this along."

"Let him sit. If we start in on him now he won't tell us anything. Take him away from everything with no food, little water and only his thoughts to keep him company..." Cook shrugged.

"He caves that much easier." Mike smiled, knowing the game Cook wanted to play.

"Exactly." Cook shrugged into his jacket. "I'm going to go see Archie." That Michael had control until he got back went unsaid between the two.

"Give Carly a kiss for me." Michael smiled.

"I'll see if Carly can come give you a kiss herself." Cook rolled his eyes before closing the door.

*****

Cook knocked three times twice in quick succession on the door to the safe house. Jason opened the door, holstering his gun with the other hand.

"How is he?" Cook asked as he slipped through the door.

"Arch was sleeping when I got here. Carly got him up for a little while so he would eat something, but with him being cooped up in here cut off from everything he's starting to get restless."

Cook sighed. "Well he can't go home, and staying at the club is too dangerous."

"What about with Allison?" David said, interrupting from his place framed in the bedroom's doorway. Cook could see Carly over David's shoulder, a sad look on her face. David was bundled up in what had to be one of his dad's old sweaters since it engulfed his small frame. His face was blotchy and red, his hands were tucked into his armpits, but his eyes were a clear, hard brown.

Cook walked over and surrounded David in his arms. David snuffled into his neck. "I don't know…"

Carly put her hand on Cook's shoulder. "It makes sense. If Kris and Adam are on our side with this one, then that's almost safer than being here. You know that."

Cook was silent for a minute before turning to Carly. "Go ask them."

Carly had grabbed her shawl already. "I'll be back." She gave David a kiss on the head before stepping out the door.

Cook took David's hand and led him towards the couch. "Sit down." He tugged on David's hand as the younger man fell into his lap on the couch. David sat sideways, so his feet were hanging over the arm of the couch and Cook started rubbing his fingertips up and down David's thigh.

"Did you find them yet?" David bit his lip.

"No, but we're close."

"How close is close?" David asked.

"Kris gave us the one person besides Guarini who knows where they are. Practically gift wrapped him for us." Cook gave David a kiss on the forehead.

"Good. They all need to pay." David said.

Cook rested his forehead against David's. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

The look in David's eyes didn't scare him since he'd seen that look in his own eyes more than once. After Carrie. After Adam. He just thought that maybe with David he was going to get a chance to start over.

"Yes. I can hear you thinking, so just stop." David said forcefully. "I'm 18, not an idiot. Alli told me this might happen." He gave Cook a quick kiss. "I did it anyway. At some point you just have to admit that the world does not revolve just around you."

Cook gave David another kiss. "What did I do to deserve you."

"When you figure it out let me know." David smiled. "I'd be rich."

"There's that cocky David I was missing."

David was the one to initiate the kiss this time. "Well it's because of you anyway, so I hope you're happy." He said as he moved so he was straddling Cook instead of across him.

Cook smiled as he continued to kiss David. "Couldn't be happier." He said inbetween kisses.

David stopped kissing for a moment, going back to resting his forehead against Cook. "Come to bed with me."

Cook closed his eyes. There was nothing more he wanted to do in that moment. "That's… not a good idea. Your family just died, you're not right in the head." Cook couldn't believe he was trying to talk himself out of going to bed with David. "It's not that I don't want to, because after the last few days, I'd be lying. But trust me when I say this is not you talking."

David's lips curled into a small smile. "Trust me when I tell you that I know what I'm doing."

"Okay then." Cook lifted the two of them off the couch, David wrapping his legs around Cook as he led the two of them to the small bedroom.

*****

Cook made his way back to the speakeasy a few hours later, well rested and refreshed. David was relocated to Kris and Adam's, the pair promising to look after David as if he was their own.

The night was young and he had a man to torture and two killers to find.

The smile on his face turned confused when he saw who was sitting down at one of the tables in the speakeasy that wasn't set to open for a few hours yet.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time baby brother?" The smile on his stepbrother's face was more cocky than heartfelt.

"Neal, what the…"

Michael appeared from his position where he had been crouched behind the bar, four shot glasses and the one of the few bottles of actual whiskey they had in his hands. Cook turned to him. "Did you do this?"

Michael raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I called your psycho stepbrother down from Boston. Told him to bring Andy down too." He said sarcastically as he placed the glasses and the bottle on the table.

Neal raised his scared eyebrow and took the whiskey, twisting the cap off. "Psycho?"

"In the best possible way." Michael cracked.

"Won't hold that against you then." Neal said as he poured shots for them all.

"Which means he will." Andy smiled as he took one of the glasses Neal poured and knocked back the shot.

"Of course." Michael raised his glass and knocked back his own shot.

"So if it wasn't Michael…" Cook trailed off.

"Lambert called." Neal had already taken his first shot and was pouring his second. "Figured if you were going to take down a whole crime family you might need some help. Pop agreed." He knocked back his second shot. "So what are we doing first?"

Cook smiled. He was struck with an idea. "You brought your knives right?"

Neal's returning smile was downright scary. "Of course I did."

Cook poured himself another shot. "Then I have the perfect use for them."

*****

Even though he was only 15 at the time, Elliot knew what he was getting into by staying friends with Ace and Chris. He had wanted to be them for the longest time, but being a member of a crime family, any crime family, was the last thing Elliot wanted to do. But he had known them since practically before he knew how to talk, so he wasn't about to leave them like that.

So Elliot would be lying to himself if he didn't know sooner or later he'd be in the position he was in; tied to a chair and only allowed to take a piss every few hours and a glass of water for nourishment trapped in some basement room in a crime boss' speakeasy.

Elliot didn't know how long he was down in that room in the Idol. It could have been a few hours, or a few days. But when Cook stepped into the room with two people he had never seen before in his life, he knew that whatever they had really planned for him was about to start.

His regular escort for his piss breaks, Matt if he remembered his name correctly, came in with a chair. Cook dragged the chair over to sit in front of Elliot, the scrape of the legs against the concrete floor loud in the space as he placed it backwards.

"Hi Elliot, it's nice to meet you." Cook had a smile on his face as he sat down, letting his arms rest on the back of the chair. Elliot knew not to trust that smile though. That smile had been the last thing who knows how many people had seen right before Cook shot them dead.

"We don't really want to hurt you, you know that right?" Cook said, trying to charm Elliot.

Elliot scoffed. Cook ignored him.

"We don't need you, we just want your friends… Young and Daughtry. You tell us where they're hiding, and you can walk right out that door." Cook pointed to the door that was still open a crack.

"Like I'll tell you. You're just going to kill them."

Cook slammed his hand on the chair. "Exactly! It's like we're connecting. This is a great step."

"I'm not going to tell you were they are." Elliot sneered. "So you can take your connecting crap and stuff it."

Cook's face fell. "I was hoping we wouldn't have to do this. You seem like a nice enough guy. A smart guy too for not getting involved in the same muck as Young and Daughtry. But if that's how you really want to do it." Cook shrugged. "Who am I to stop you." Cook got up out of the chair, turning it around and pushing it against the back wall. "I will leave it in these two gentlemen's very capable hands. Any time you want out, you know what we want." Cook placed his hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "This is Andy. He'll do all the talking. Say hi to Elliot, Andy."

"Hi Elliot." Andy had a crooked smile on his face as he greeted Elliot and tucked his shirtsleeves up.

Matt brought in a table with a bag on top of it. "Thanks Matt." Cook said as Elliot's keeper for the last few days set the table down to Elliot's left.

"No problem boss." Matt smiled as he walked out. Elliot had really wondered, more than once in the last few hours, what had made everyone in the neighborhood love Cook as much as they did. If his last few minutes with the man were anything to go on, then Elliot thought Cook was a wolf in sheep's clothing. And a wolf only knew how to do one thing.

"This is Neal. Well… everyone knows him as something else, but Neal will do for now." Cook smiled. Neal didn't say anything as he unfurled the bag and Elliot saw the various knives and other cutting tools he was pulling out. "He also doesn't talk much." Cook mock whispered.

Cook clapped his hands together. "I don't know about you, but I want a drink." The man Cook identified as Neal raised his eyebrow. Off the look, Cook said, "Don't start."

Cook gave Elliot one more look. "And don't scar him too badly." He said before walking out the door.

Elliot turned to Andy and watched as the man sat in the chair Cook had just been in. "Now I don't like to get my hands dirty. Give me a gun and I'll shoot them thirty paces off and be done with it. My boyfriend Neal on the other hand has a different approach." Andy paused, raising his eyebrow. He obviously was expecting some kind of response out of him, but Elliot was more afraid of the   
blades Neal was pulling out then the fact that the two of them liked to fuck. You didn't work in theater for long and not run into a homosexual man anyway, so Elliot didn't have any reaction to it.

Andy nodded his head, almost in approval. "Well look here, a progressive."

"More like a guy who's worked in theater too long to care." Elliot spat back.

"Almost a shame then." Andy sighed. "Well, back to the matter at hand." He paused. "You see, Neal likes to get messy. Loves it in fact. He is so good with his blades it's even got him a bit of a reputation. You ever heard of 'the Doctor' Elliot?"

Elliot shook his head. Shrugging his shoulder, Andy said, "You will now." Elliot struggled against the ropes that were tying him to the chair as Andy tucked up his sleeves. "Did you know that shallow cuts almost hurt more than stab wounds?" Andy finished tucking up the sleeve on his other arm. "It's the nerves. The nerves on the first few layers of your skin are more sensitive to pain than you might think." Andy whispered in Elliot's ear. "Doc's going to give you a thousand paper cuts."

Elliot didn't understand what was so menacing about a thousand paper cuts, he'd gotten them all the time. They hurt like hell in the first instant, but they weren't that bad.

In what felt like hours later though, Elliot felt like his skin was on fire and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His arms were peppered with neat slices, some parallel, some perpendicular, but they all hurt. And there were only a few that actually went very deep and drew a steady flow of blood.

The ones that hurt the most were the ones on the soles of his feet. Sometime during the torture his shoes had come off and after Neal had grown bored with his arms had moved on to Elliot's feet, propping them up on the extra chair in the room. There was one particular cut across the bottom arch of his right foot that Elliot could feel the blood seeping out and trickling down almost in rhythm to the beat of his racing heart.

"You know what will make this stop Elliot. Tell us where your friends are hiding and Neal won't have to move on to… more interesting pursuits." Andy said as Neal was cleaning off one of his blades.

Elliot looked at Neal out of the corner of his eye and watched the rhythmic motion of the other man cleaning Elliot's own blood off the blade. "Give me your best shot."

Andy sighed. "I was really really hoping you wouldn't say that." He slumped back into the chair, an almost dejected look on his face. "Neal?"

Neal pulled out what looked like some kind of handheld clamp device. Andy pulled out an extra length of rope, tying down Elliot's forearm more securely to the arm of the chair, but also in locations that meant any movement made the fresh cuts on Elliot's arms burn with agony.

Andy held out Elliot's hand, holding it so that his forefinger and pointer finger were held out straight. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Elliot's eyes widened as the clamp device gripped the fingernail on his forefinger and Neal yanked.

White hot fire raced up Elliot's arm. The cuts had turned into an aching constant throb after a while. This was new. The blood poured more freely, and the air itself felt like it was setting his wounded finger on fire. Elliot bit down on his already mashed up lips, trying to stifle the noise even though he knew the other two had heard.

"More?" When Elliot didn't respond, he was too busy trying not to focus on the pain, Neal did it again, only this time to the pointer finger. The agony raced up his arm one more time, and in the aftermath it almost felt as if Elliot couldn't get his fingers to move at all… like Neal had pulled off more than just the nail.

Before Elliot could even think, Andy broke both fingers, which Elliot almost thought of as a blessing. Numb was better than shooting pain.

"Now are we going to move on to the other fingers? There are eight more after all. And then we can move on to the toes." Andy said.

"Fuck you." Elliot spit out.

Andy shrugged. "Okay." He repositioned Elliot's hand so Neal could more easily access his pinky and ring fingers next.

Elliot struggled against the hold, but that just reminded him of the cuts that were all over his arms, rubbed raw and fresh against the coarse rope. In what seemed like a blink of the eye Neal had pulled off the next two fingernails, and Andy had broken the fingers.

"Now the thumb is the trickiest. Hurts like a bitch too." Andy whistled. "You think the other fingers were bad? Thumb's the worst." Andy put his hand on his chest. "I'm talking from personal experience here." Elliot gave the briefest of looks to Andy's thumb and saw the slightly crooked finger and the discolored nail.

Elliot thought he could handle it. Except for the flash of pain in the moment it happened, everything had been dulling down into an ache Elliot could push out of his mind.

Pulling out the thumbnail hurt more than his other four fingers, but it was Andy breaking his thumb that pushed Elliot over. Elliot watched in slow motion, as Andy had to break the finger not once, but twice in order for it to really become useless. It hung there for a few moments like a dead piece of meat on his hand.

Elliot's own voice sounded far away as he said, "I'll tell you where they are. Just stop. Please?"

*****

Andy was wiping his hands on his handkerchief when Cook came back into the room. After telling them where Young and Daughtry were, Andy had dressed most of the more serious wounds Elliot had, his torn fingernail beds being his first priority, before untying him and letting Michael escort the other man to the hospital. They weren't completely heartless bastards. Even if they all wanted Young and Daughtry's heads on a platter. Well Neal just wanted to have some fun, so his motives were a little less complex.

Cook had passed Michael and Elliot in the hall. Cook saw the larger man helping the other man out, even though it looked more like Elliot was using Michael as a leaning post.

"Didn't even get to the toes." Neal looked like he had a pout on his face as he placed the last of his blades into his bag.

Cook laughed. "Maybe I'll let you have Daughtry as a play thing."

"He's more of a thorn in your side than Young?" Andy asked, slightly curious.

"Oh more than you'd believe." Cook snarled. "Young just kills. Daughtry takes pleasure in it."

Neal raised his eyebrow. "Daughtry doesn't know when to stop." Cook said off the look, knowing that he had practically made a dig at what Neal had just done.

"Is he going to be okay?" Cook asked, tilting his head towards the outer hallway.

"Nothing a good fuck and some time off won't cure." Neal said as he zipped the bag closed.

"And we got the information we needed." Andy said as he put his handkerchief in his back pocket.

"So?"

"Yamin said they're hiding in some brownstone on 86th Street. Apparently the house is owned by Yamin's cousin who's in England on business until next month." Andy smiled a shark's smile.

"Well then we'll try not to mess it up too badly." Cook said as the trio left the room.

Mike was a little ways down the hall, slightly out of breath. "I just saw Sarver slip out the back with Yamin. Did we get it?"

Cook nodded his head. "Tell Ryan to end the set early tonight." He paused. "We've got some rabid dogs to put down."

"And Archie?" Mike asked.

Cook thought it over for a moment. "Have Matt run over to Kris and Adam's place. If he really wants to kill them, I'd rather have it happen here than anywhere else."

"So you're not going to kill them on sight?" Andy asked.

Cook turned to his childhood friend. "They killed Archie's entire family. No matter what I feel, it's only right that we let Archie have the final choice."

Andy's only response was to nod his head in agreement. "So who going to come with us?"

Cook was glad that Andy, and in effect Neal, were going to support whatever Cook choose. He had butted heads with them so much over the years it was a small part of the reason he had been glad that his father had given him Hell's Kitchen to run. He was feeling trapped in Boston, and the change in scenery, for all that had happened and was going to happen, was good for him.

"We're going to get everybody."

*****

Cook stared at the innocuous brownstone for a few silent moments. It looked like any other home of the street, bearing no indication that it housed two killers who needed to be put in their place.

Luke ran back up after checking out the layout of the street and the alleyway. "There's an entrance in the front and one on the side. There's also a basement, but there's no way they're getting out that way since it's only a window that not even I could really fit thorough." He said as he unholstered his gun. "I don't think they ever counted on being found."

"Good. Makes this easier." Cook said.

Michael raised his eyebrow. "But it's Young and Daughtry."

"That just makes it more fun." Neal said as he checked his own gun.

Cook indicated Jason, Luke and Andy. "Go to the alleyway and stop them if they come out that way. Mike, Neal and I will knock on the front door."

Neal smiled. "The direct approach."

Cook turned to his stepbrother. "Thought you'd like that."

Cook smiled as he knocked on the front door. Neal was already prepared to kick the door in with his foot as soon as either one of them were at the door.

They all watched as the doorknob twisted, hearing Young say, "Hey Elliot, I thought we weren't going to see you until later."

At the word 'later', Neal kicked the door open. The shock on Young's face instantly turned to hatred when he saw that both Michael and Cook had their guns trained on him. "Twitch and you're dead." Cook said. "Might shoot you just for the fun of it too."

"Chris!" Young yelled. Cook shot him in the shoulder. "That was fun." He said as Young collapsed to the ground, holding his shoulder. Michael pressed his foot down on Young's midsection, only giving him the comfort of pressing his own hand into the wound. Neal slipped past the two and went off towards the footsteps he heard Daughtry make as he tried to escape out the alley. "Move again and I'll shoot the other shoulder."

"You're just going to kill me anyway." Young spat as Michael pressed down harder.

"I'm not the judge of that." Cook said simply as the three of them heard several crashes in another section of the house. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Cook heard Neal say. The cock of his gun echoed in the lower level of the house. Cook could imagine the large gun Neal liked to carry resting up against Daughtry's head.

If Daughtry was smart he would stop in his tracks. If not, well Archie was just going to have to live with the disappointment of only killing one of the two people that had destroyed his family.

Cook saw Luke escorting Daughtry out of the corner of his eye. Neal still had his gun trained on Daughtry's head though. "Don't trust this one." Neal sneered as he hit Daughtry on the head with the side of his gun. Daughtry turned and gave Neal a returning sneer.

"I've got the rope." Jason said as he wiggled the cord.

"Tie that idiot up first." Cook said as he indicated Daughtry. Cook heard the hiss as Jason tied Daughtry's hands particularly tight behind his back. Neal cold-cocked Daughtry one more time as Jason stepped around them and went over to where Cook and Michael were still training their guns on Young. "Tie him up too. Take his gun. Luke, you want to help him up?" Cook smirked as Luke was none to careful in raising Young onto his feet so Jason could tie his hands together.

Cook jerked his gun in the direction of the front door. "We're going on a little trip. So if either of you," at that he moved his gun from Young to Daughtry, "does any more than put one foot in front of the other, you're getting shot in the knees. Got that?" At their non-response, Cook said, "Let's go."

 

****

David was sitting at the bar, trying to take his mind off of where Cook was by having a coke and talking to Chikeze. The other man was glad to have the company as he prepped bar for the night, cleaning glasses and actually being able to talk to someone instead of just humming to himself as he worked.

But for all he tried to concentrate on what Chikeze was telling him, David was distracted. Matt had been practically out of breath when he'd gotten to Kris and Adam's, his words falling over each other as he told them that Elliot Yamin had cracked and confessed where Young and Daughtry were hiding, that Cook had taken everyone and was going to get them, and that they needed to   
eave now if they were going to be back at the club in time.

David wasn't distracted because he was worrying about Cook, but more about what was going to happen when Cook came back. For how confident he had been that Young and Daughtry should pay for killing his family, David didn't have the confidence in himself that he could go through with the deed. It was killing someone. Granted, it was two people that definitely wouldn't be missed and everyone would be better off, but in the end David's dark desire was to end two lives. Hell he'd never even fired a gun before.

"You know Cook's not going to think anything less of you if you can't do it. I told Cook a long time ago that I don't mind what he does, but I can't kill somebody. Don't have it in me." Chikeze seemed to be reading David's thoughts. "And Cook respects me for that. Few guys would."

David nervously took a drink of his soda, trying to collect the thoughts swirling around in his head. "I want to? Or at least I think I do… I haven't wanted to do something so… bad… ever. But it's still…"

"Ending another life."

"Yeah." David sighed. "I… I keep having nightmares, about what must have happened… I can't get it out of my head."

Chikeze stopped what he was doing. "Killing those idiots isn't going to change that."

David bit his lip. "Maybe it will?" David kind of hoped maybe it would put something to rest.

"David, just… make sure you're going to be okay with it. Whatever you choose." Chikeze got out as they heard a ruckus outside the side door. David watched as the door opened and Cook lead everyone into the club, Young and Daughtry tied up and walking between them with some guy David didn't recognize holding his gun to Daughtry's temple and Luke with his gun to Young's head.

"Take them downstairs and truss them up." Cook said. "We'll be down in a minute."

"Come on ya numbnuts." The mysterious man said as he pushed his gun harder into Daughtry's skull. "Gonna wrap you up all pretty like."

Cook and Mike came over to the bar while everyone else walked Young and Daughtry downstairs. Chikeze had two shot glasses filled by the time Cook and Mike got to the bar. "Thanks." Cook said as they both knocked back shots. "Are you ready for this?"

David sighed. "No?"

"Arch, you don't have to do this. I can just go down and take care of them myself." Cook touched his shoulder. "I swear it's okay."

David bit his lip. "No I… I need to do this. If I don't… I don't know if I'll ever be able to go to sleep without seeing them."

Cook engulfed David in a hug, David resting his head on Cook's shoulder. "You should have told me." Cook whispered into David's ear.

"I thought it would go away, I really did. And then I wouldn't have to worry you about it." David muttered.

Cook pulled David back and looked him straight in the eye. "Get that idiot thought out of your head. I'd be worried more if you didn't tell me. At least then I know what you're thinking about. This whole time… I didn't know how you were handling it because you didn't want to tell me." Cook pulled David to him and put his forehead against his. "That worried the crap out of me."

Mike let out a cough. "If the lovers are done?" Cook gave him a look.

Cook turned back to David. "Let's go do this alright?" He stepped back to let David get off the barstool.

David took Cook's hand and Cook gave it a squeeze as they walked down to the basement level. Cook stopped the two of them before they entered the room. "Last time Archie. You sure about this?"

David took a breath. "I'm never going to get over this if I don't do it."

"You don't need…"

David tore his hand out of Cook's grasp. "Stop telling me what I need. All I've been thinking about these last few days is what I should and shouldn't be doing." He spat. He turned to Cook. "You told me once that if I had to convince myself about something, then it probably wasn't something I should do. Do you know what I've been thinking?" He paused. "Why I shouldn't do it. Not that I should. That… I'm not even thinking about."

Cook walked up to David and pulled him into a fierce hug. "It's okay, Archie. It's okay."

David suddenly started crying into Cook's shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he raised his head after a few moments. "Thanks. I think I needed that."

Cook ruffled David's hair. "Anytime." David didn't stop the smile that curled his lips.

David put his hand on the doorknob. He counted to five before turning it and going inside.

The mysterious man who had his gun to Daughtry's head when the group had come in was in the room, along with Jason and Luke. All three of them had their guns unholstered and in a loose grip in their hands, just in case something happened.

David didn't see how that was possible though. Daughtry and Young were tied down tight to two old wooden chairs side by side. Both of their mouths were stuffed with cloth so they couldn't talk, and David noticed that Young was bleeding from the shoulder. "Why'd you shoot him?" David asked.

"He misbehaved." The mysterious man said with a cruel smile.

"Neal." Cook warned as he unholstered his gun. He held it out butt first to David. "Last time to back out."

David snatched the gun swiftly. "Stop saying that."

Cook shrugged. "Call me devil's advocate."

"You want to take the gags out?" Luke asked. He seemed to be asking Cook, but Cook was going to go with David on this.

"No." David said quickly. "No." He repeated more slowly. He stood in front of Young. Better to put him out of his misery sooner, David thought.

Cook stood behind David. "Hold the gun up. Just like last time." David briefly flashed to when this all started, the standoff between the two of them. He held the gun up, his arms shaking for a moment before steadying. Cook placed his hand over David's. "Grip the gun like this." Cook moved David's grip on the gun slightly. "Cock the hammer." David's hand was the one on the gun, but Cook was the one actually doing the action. "And put gentle even pressure on the trigger." Cook's finger was over David's on the trigger, but Cook wasn't going to exert the pressure to do it.

David counted to five again before putting pressure on the trigger. The gun was louder than he thought, or maybe that was just the pounding of his heart, and the force pushed him back into Cook's chest.

But Young still had a hole in his head, even if it wasn't perfectly in the center of it.

Daughtry's screams and curses were muffled, but everyone in the room got their intention clearly enough. Neal moved around and punched him in the gut, Daughtry unable to curl inward because of how he was tied up.

David moved over so he had an easier shot in front of Daughtry. Even with the gag, he could see the sneer on Daughtry's face though. "Makes it easier." David said softly as he held the gun aloft again. Cook was behind him, holding his arms straight, but when the gun went off next, it was all David.

The gun was still smoldering when David let it drop to the floor. He puked up the soda and the small amount of food he had eaten earlier in the day on the other side. No one said anything about it as David wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

Cook picked his gun up off the floor and rubbed circles on David's back. "Let's get out of here. Luke, Jayce…"

"We've got it." Luke said.

David's eyes were barely open as he, Cook and Neal walked out of the room. He didn't open them fully until they had made it back upstairs. Where he was immediately hugged by Carly.

"Oh baby." Carly said. "You want to get something to drink? Eat?" David shook his head. "You want to lay down?" David nodded his head.

Cook kissed the top of David's head. "Take care of him Carls." Carly put her arm around David's shoulders and walked the two of them back towards the dressing room in the back.

Cook took a deep breath. The only thing his body wanted right in that moment was to go with David and lay down on the pullout couch. But his head told him now was the best time to strike at the Guarini family. They hopefully didn't know that Daughtry and Young had been captured and killed, giving Cook the upper hand.

"So how do you want to do this?" Andy asked.

Cook sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We've always known where Guarini is, it's just been a matter of… courtesy that we haven't done anything. But now that's all changed. So I think we hit them hard, and we hit them fast."

"When do you want to do it?" Mike asked.

Cook thought about it for a moment. "Dawn."

"Catch them with their pants down. I like it." Neal smiled wide.

*****

"So that's it then." Cook sighed as he collapsed into a chair around the large table that had all the plans for the Guarini home and their main warehouse.

"Can't think of anything else we need to worry about." Adam said pushing back his black hair and heaving a sigh. Both him and Kris had shown up almost immediately after Cook had started putting plans into motion, helping dispose of the two bodies and pointing out weak spots and flaws in the security for both locations.

"It still seems almost too easy." Neal said from his position across from Cook at the large table.

"This isn't the MacNally family." Cook said with a smile.

"That was fun though." Neal smiled back.

"Were you dropped on your head as a child or something?" Mike asked Neal point blank.

"Hey!" Andy and Cook exclaimed. Neal growled in Mike's direction.

Mike raised his hands. "Sorry mate." Neal raised his eyebrow.

Neal and Mike had been baiting each other all night, but Cook was finding it oddly enjoyable. He knew the two of them didn't really mean anything by it, but it was still entertaining to watch nonetheless to see how far the two of them would go.

Cook knew when enough was enough though. "Okay guys, stop." Cook checked his pocket watch. "It's already 4 am, and if we're going to do this right, I need everybody here."

"Yeah, yeah." Mike said. "So it's going to be you, me, Kris, Adam, Neil and Luke at the house and everyone else is going to the warehouse right?"

"I'm still pissed that me and Carly can't come and kick Guarini in the balls." Kristy sulked from her seat between Jason and Luke.

"I'm glad you want to help take Guarini down, but going to the house is going to be a lot more hectic than the warehouse. I want my favorite girls safe." Cook smiled at Kristy Lee.

"Fine." She huffed one last time, protest dying on her lips.

The door to the back rooms opened a sliver and everyone at the table watched Carly slip out and close the door. "Archie's finally sleeping." She said as she sat down on the arm of Michael's chair. Michael wrapped an arm around her waist as Carly gave it a squeeze. "Poor baby was more exhausted than anything."

"Alli?" Kris asked.

"She's okay with watching Archie until we get back. Going to wake him up if he starts having nightmares again." Carly said. "So are we ready to do this?"

"Get your knives baby girl." Mike gave Carly's bare shoulder a kiss. "We're going hunting.

*****

It was surprisingly easy to disarm the guards around the Guarini compound. In less than twenty minutes all three were incapacitated. "Not having fun yet." Neal whined as the six of them were huddled around the side door, waiting for Kris to finish picking the lock to gain access.

Mike rolled his eyes. "Hold your horses."

Cook gave Neal's shoulder a hard slap. "You'll be busy enough when we get inside."

Kris dusted off his hands as he put away the lock pick. "Too easy." He said as he placed his hand on the door, the slightest pressure allowing the door to give way. Adam gave his boyfriend a quick kiss as the six of them passed through the door.

Cook took a quick look down the long arching hallway to make sure they were alone. "Okay, Kris and I are going to Guarini, and the rest of you are going to clean out the house."

"It all goes to shit, meet back at the Idol. We've got it." Neal rolled his eyes. Adam gave Kris's hand a squeeze before the two groups separated, Neal, Mike, Luke and Adam going left while Kris and Cook went right. Kris and Adam were the only ones who knew the layout of the Guarini house, so it made sense for the two of them to lead the teams going inside.

Kris and Cook kept to the dwindling shadows of predawn as much as they could, only making any extra amount of noise when they had to take down one of the guards. Kris lead Cook left, right, and left again, Cook barely keeping track of where they were going in the house.

Kris finally stopped at a T in a hallway, giving a quick look down the intersecting hallway. Kris held up two fingers, indicating how many guards, plus he mouthed the word "bedroom". Cook dashed over to the other side of the hall. Counting down from three, the two of them simultaneously turned into the mouth of the hall, shooting both guards before they had a chance to pull their guns.

Reaching the large double doors that lead into the bedroom, Kris and Cook dragged the two bodies off to the side before reaching towards the doorknobs for the bedroom. Cook tested the knob and gave a nod of his head when he realized they were unlocked.

They each grabbed a knob. "Go." Cook said as the two of them twisted at the same time.

Even though they had their guns cocked and loaded, neither of them saw the knife coming. "Shit." Cook cursed as he saw one of Guarini's signature knives embedded in his shoulder. He would have figured that Guarini slept with a knife under his pillow. Cook slept with his gun within easy access after all.

"I'm actually surprised it took you this long." Guarini sneered. Cook had his gun trained on Guarini while Kris had his trained on Kelly, the brunette holding up the bed sheet to her chest. Kelly wouldn't go down quietly though, and both Kris and Cook knew that.

"I had some business to take care of first." Cook said as he pulled the knife out of his gun shoulder and tossed it to the side, letting out a small hiss.

"So they are dead then." Guarini sighed. "I told them running to Elliot was a bad idea."

"We were going to find them; it was only a matter of time." Cook hissed.

"Well when you have the two of them on your side, time moves rather fast." Guarini turned towards Kris. "I didn't believe the rumors that The Ghosts had actually chosen a side. You pride yourselves on never choosing one."

"That was before you decided to kill an innocent kid's family. I know David. I *like* David. That was your mistake." Kris said evenly.

"It happens." Guarini shrugged. "So why haven't you shot me yet?" He asked Cook.

"I wanted to ask you a question." Guarini raised his eyebrow so Cook continued. "What the hell did you have to gain? This whole time, Carrie, Archie's family, everyone else…"

Guarini laughed. "You've had it so easy. Your stepfather comes in and takes over like my father was a pesky fly on the wall. Hell's Kitchen was supposed to be mine." He seethed. "But in you come, with your charm and people who were willing to follow you to the ends of the earth and all you had to do was smile." Guarini gave Cook a cold look. "I did the only thing that made sense."

"Asshole." The words had barely left Cook's mouth before he had finished pulling the trigger.

Guarini fell backwards onto the bed, the sheets staining red as the wound in his chest seeped blood into the sheets. Kelly tugged the bedsheet with her as she scrambled out of the bed to get away from any more of the blood. Cook could see the tears threatening to spill in her eyes.

All three of them could hear the sound of sirens off in the distance. The rest of the guys must have missed someone before they were able to call the police. "Go." Kelly said softly, staring at the bed. "The cops will be here soon."

"Kels…"

Kelly looked coldly at Cook. "Unless you want to actually get pinned for this, get out. But we're done Dave. Done."

Cook nodded slowly as both he and Kris started running.

*****

It was weird, Cook thought, that for so long he went without any kind of affection or tactile touch that he now craved it like breathing.

Kris and Cook had made it back to the Idol as fast as their legs could carry them. They didn't see anyone else, but the plan had been for everyone to take different routes back to the speakeasy, so Cook wasn't surprised.

Once Cook stepped inside he was slammed into full tilt by David and given one of the biggest hugs he'd remember being on the receiving end of in a long time.

Cook heard Allison's laugh from over in the stage area. "He's been wanting to do that for the last three hours. Only way I could prevent him from going nuts was getting him to play the piano." She commented as Kris walked over to where she was sitting on the piano bench and gave Allison a hug before sitting next to her.

"We the first ones back?" Kris asked as he put his arm around Allison and she snuggled into his side. Allison nodded. Kris gave Cook a look over David's head. Something was wrong if they were the first ones back.

Cook was going to worry about that once he was done enjoying having David's arms around him though. "Hey Arch."

"Glad you're back." David muttered into Cook's chest.

"Wouldn't be anywhere else." Cook said.

David raised his head and looked up. It was then that he noticed the dark mark on Cook's shirt sleeve. "What… are you hurt?" David touched the spot and his finger came away red. "You're bleeding?" He turned to Allison. "Get me the med kit Alli?" He asked as Allison rushed off and he lead Cook over to the main table that was still stacked with plans and papers from the night before. "Take this off." David tugged at the shirt as Cook started undressing.

"You going to take care of me now?" Cook smirked.

"Something like that." David's hands ghosted over the knife wound in Cook's shoulder. "Who did this?"

"Guarini. He's dead though." Cook watched Allison place the kit down and David get to work. David took out the gauze and made quick work of wrapping the wound. Cook was impressed with the efficiency David had and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"So does that mean it's over now?" David asked as Cook rebuttoned his shirt.

Cook nodded. "There's going to be some… issues with some of Guarini's lackey's on the street, but it's nothing we can't handle."

Neal and Adam crashed through the door. "Where's Luke and Mike?"

The two of them collapsed into chairs. "Luke got shot in the leg with a through and through when one of Guarini's men got the drop on us. We had to take him to the hospital. Johns is going to stay with him until the doc gives him walking papers." Adam said.

"Is he going to be okay?" Cook asked.

Adam nodded. "It'll scar something terrible, but he'll be up and around once it heals up."

Cook nodded and sighed when he saw Carly, Andy, Jason and Kristy Lee walk through the door next. "How'd it go?"

"Guarini's main warehouse is burning down as we speak." Kristy Lee couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Where's Luke?" The smile slipped off her face when she saw who was missing.

"And Mike?" Carly asked.

"Luke got shot in the leg and Mike's staying with him until the doctor gives him the okay." Cook said, hissing when he wrapped his injured arm around David.

Carly rested against the edge of the table next to Cook. "So what happened to you?" She nudged his uninjured shoulder.

"One last gift from Guarini. One of his damn knives found it's way into my shoulder."

"I'm guessing that's before you killed him." Carly smirked. Cook nodded. "And that's all there is to it. If it's all the same to you I'm going go back to my place and try and get some actual sleep for once." Carly turned towards Archie. "You going to be okay?" She ruffled David's hair.

David nodded as he tucked his face into the crook of Cook's neck.

"We'll stick around until Mike gets back with news on Luke and then I think Arch and I are going to go on a bit of a vacation. Might even leave Mike in charge." Cook said as he started playing with the soft hairs at the base of David's scalp.

"Oh he'll love that." Carly said as she was walking away. She raised her hand and waved goodbye to the group before walking out the door.

Carly leaving seemed to be the excuse everyone needed to start walking out and going back to their own homes. Kris, Adam and Allison left first, the trio making Archie promise he'd come by and visit again when his life wasn't being threatened. Jason was going to the hospital so Mike could check in with Cook and then go home himself. Kristy Lee almost immediately chirped in that she was going to go with Jason, and Cook tried to keep the smirk off his face. It seemed like Kristy Lee was finally going to stop flirting with all those college boys after her set. Not that Cook was going to say anything. He liked his balls right where they were.

"So I guess baby brother really does have it all handled." Neal said when it was just him, Andy, Cook and David left in the speakeasy.

"I can see your broken up about it." Cook smirked.

"Ass. I'm being serious for once." Neal balled up one of the errant pieces of paper on the desk and threw it so it harmlessly bounced off of Cook. "Dad was worried about you too." He muttered.

"Well you can stop worrying. I've made my place here. And I plan on staying for a long time." Cook's hand stilled where it was still playing with the hair at the nape of David's neck.

Andy rolled his eyes. "If you ever manage to say you're proud of him I might die of shock."

"Shut your trap." Neal said, which started a squabbling match between him and Andy.

"Hey Arch…" Cook trailed off when he realized that David had finally fallen asleep huddled to Cook's side.

Cook smiled, yeah, he wasn't going anywhere for a long time yet. Maybe forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is honestly the longest thing I've ever written in my life. Once upon a time there was this girl!Lance story that was long and I could claim that was the ~longest thing I had ever written at 20 pages... but this thing ended up being twice that length.
> 
> I've also had these characters living in my head for a while now. The first scene with Archie, Cook, Mike and the gun literally existed on my hard drive for a whole year and a half before I found a reason to write more. And the along the way it collected and discarded various people in the Idolsphere. Allison, Kris, Adam and Matt weren't even a part of this story in first draft, and there was even one memorable version that had Simon as Cook's skimming off the top bookkeeper.
> 
> I have vague ideas for writing a sequel, where Archie and Cook travel up to Boston after finding out Joey has been murdered, and Archie finds out more than he ever wanted to about Cook growing up, but at this particular moment in time I am so wiped from just doing this that it will probably be a while before I even think about that.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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